Police have been forced to issue an urgent warning after uncovering a worrying new self-checkout scam.
Criminals had placed a card-stealing device, disguised as a keyboard, in the self-service aisle of a Kroger grocery store in Atlanta, Georgia.
After studying CCTV, detectives who were alerted to the device on June 6 discovered that two men had placed it there FOUR days earlier.
Card scanners, which scammers often hide in ATMs and card machines, steal information such as card numbers and PINs from credit and debit cards.
With that information, they can create fake cards or use the information for online purchases without the owner’s permission.
Atlanta Police Discovered Card Skimming Device at Popular Grocery Store Kroger
The people’s images were released last week along with a $2,000 reward.
The stunt was discovered by a store employee who immediately contacted Atlanta police.
Agents were able to identify two suspects from security footage who “placed the fraudulent device at the self-checkout machine on June 2, 2024.”
Worryingly, the device was in the card reader for four days before being detected. It is not yet clear how many customers were affected.
The people’s images were released last week along with a $2,000 reward for information leading to their arrest, according to Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta.
“Investigators with the Atlanta Police Department’s Fraud Unit are asking for the public’s help in providing information regarding the suspects shown in the attached photos,” Crime Stoppers wrote in a social media post.
The images released show two men, both dressed in white T-shirts and caps, apparently shopping at the store.
One carries a bouquet of flowers while the other is slightly behind him pushing a shopping cart.
‘So your fraudulent pin pad stayed in place for 4 days without anyone noticing? Yikes’ only concerned customer wrote about the incident on Reddit.
Others expressed concern that they may not be able to identify a card skimmer on a legitimate cash register machine.
Self-checkouts are controversial among Americans. Many don’t like using them or worry that they’re taking jobs away from grocery store staff.
They have also caused problems for retailers, who were keen to implement them as a cost-saving measure. But bosses have found this has led to a rise in shoplifting as customers fail to scan all items.
As a result, big chains like Walmart, Target and Dollar General are eliminating self-checkout systems or changing the rules on their use.
For example, Dollar General has stopped using self-checkouts in 12,000 of its stores, leaving them in only a handful of stores.
It comes after the supermarket chain, which operates 2,750 stores in 35 states, came under fire last week for stealing promotional photos from a family-owned peach business.
Peach Truck, which has been operating in Georgia for twelve years, discovered earlier this month that Kroger had not only advertised its own service to sell Georgia peaches in brightly colored trucks, but had also used images from its company’s Instagram .
Kroger criticized for stealing promotional photos from family peach business
The owner of the Peach Truck posted a video about the incident on TikTok, where it received more than a million views.
Kroger responded to the backlash by removing the offensive photos and apologizing to The Peach Truck.
Kroger recently beat Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations in its latest earnings report.
The chain has also seen a 5.1 percent increase in customer visits to its stores.
