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- Skimmers are black market devices criminals use to steal money from unwitting victims, typically placed on top of legal point of sale terminals used to collect and process debit, credit and SNAP transactions.
A multiagency effort conducted as part of Operation Stronghold is working to help retailers and customers fight debit, SNAP and credit card fraud by locating and removing point of sale card skimmers from retailers in the state of Mississippi.
The operation included more than 30 state, federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Mississippi Department of Human Services, and the USDA Office of Inspector General.
As part of the effort, teams went into retailers to see if they could locate skimmers, training retailers on how to identify the skimmers themselves and who to report the presence of them to if found.
“It’s important because fraudsters can easily slip these skimmers on these card reading terminals in stores and they in turn collect data, information, from it, and then they steal millions of dollars before anyone even notices,” said Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R). “In fact, a single recovery of a skimmer represents an estimated $1 million in potential fraud.”
Skimmers are black market devices criminals use to steal money from unwitting victims, typically placed on top of legal point of sale terminals used to collect and process debit, credit and SNAP transactions. When a skimmer is placed on top of a legitimate point of sale device, the criminals can gain access to the payment methods being used by the customers. The stolen money is then often used to pay for violent crimes and other criminal activity, Fitch said.
To place the skimmers in businesses, criminals may use an accomplice to cause a distraction or some other method like sleight of hand while at the terminal.
Over the course of Operation Stronghold, the team visited 421 stores and inspected 2,150 terminals. Three skimmers were found and removed.
This is not the first time the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has put forth efforts to remove skimmers. A similar operation conducted last fall, referred to as Scammer and Fraud Enforcement (SAFE), involved visits to 900 businesses and the inspection of nearly 6,000 terminals. In that operation, 53 terminals were found and seized.
Involving the USDA OIG helped Operation Stronghold protect recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
“SNAP fraud is a reprehensible crime that squanders the goodness and compassion of American Taxpayers,” John Walk, Inspector General for the USDA, said. “Criminals place these devices into payment card readers at stores, so they can clone the SNAP card and steal the benefit that they will then monetize.”
The investigation found that those responsible for the placement of the skimmers are typically connected to international gangs to fund international crime, Walk added.
“And unfortunately, we know that most of those crimes happen on this side of the border,” Walk said.
It was also determined that through the three terminals found with skimmers this year, about 3,000 victims were affected.
“So, even a single skimming device deceitfully installed can result in a tremendous number of victims,” Walk. “The result, food assistance stripped from American families and siphoned to criminals.”
Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said he was glad his agency was able to help with the operation.
“It really is impressive to me that in a meeting in DC you can sit at a table, identify a problem and then put things in place to lead an effort to come back in Mississippi help deter fraud,” Tindell said. “And I think it shows what happens when we have collaboration amongst our federal state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state.”
Officials provided tips for consumers to avoid skimmer fraud.
“Shake it and see if the skimmer moves, it might fall off,” Fitch said. “It’s perfectly acceptable to make sure you’ve got a point of sale terminal that is solid and does not have a scammer device on it.”
Other suggestions included using tap to pay when available and avoid putting in the four digit passcode when making purchases so criminals do not get full access to an account.
