Consumers Beware: NYC Grocery Stores Target Of Card Skimming Scheme
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A credit card skimming scheme is sweeping Manhattan supermarkets, and police are asking customers to be careful.
According to police, the thieves use a discreet skimmer placed over the credit card machine to gain access to a user's debit card number. Then, they use a hidden camera to film the customer pressing their PIN into the machine to obtain those additional numbers, CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
The suspects are believed to gain access to account information, make fake replica cards and entering PIN numbers obtained by hidden cameras.
Twenty-three people have already reported being ripped off from the scheme, police said.
The scare has some people thinking about how they pay for items.
"I don't use cards," George, a victim of card skimming, told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern. "I have them in a crunch, but I don't use them."
The NYPD says four suspects believed to be connected to the incidents have been caught withdrawing cash from ATMs in Manhattan and Queens.
Police say the best way to protect yourself is to cover your hand while you enter your PIN number, so the camera will not be able to catch your code.
The investigation is ongoing.