CLEVELAND — Despite the addition of chips and touchless pay, credit card fraud is on the rise. One reason is crooks are still using skimmers, hoping you'll choose to swipe that magnetic strip instead so they can get hold of your card information. In Northern Ohio, investigators have found more than 20 skimmers at multiple locations, and they’re trying to stop them.
Vanessa Sword is a mother of five and never thought someone would steal her money, but when she went to the grocery store, she was caught by surprise.
“The cashier said it declined. I said, 'What do you mean it declined? I had over $1,200 on there,'” said Sword.
She then learned her EBT card account was drained empty. When she looked at her app, she saw four different transactions in Englewood, a neighborhood in Chicago, which is a place she’d never been. Sword then called the county, which told her she wasn't alone.
“They said it's been an ongoing matter and this month was hit the most,” said Sword.
Secret Service investigating
In Northeast Ohio, the U.S. Secret Service’s Cleveland office has found more than 20 skimming devices used to steal credit card information at grocery stores, gas stations and banks in cities including Cleveland, Parma, North Olmsted and more.
“It's usually up and down the interstate area that we've seen, easy in and easy out,” said Blaine Forschen, the special agent in charge at the U.S. Secret Service’s Cleveland office.
How it happens
Forschen told News 5 the crooks are targeting cards with magnetic strips, and they’re stealing that information two different ways. The first is with a cover put on credit card machines.
“They'll come in, distract the person who's watching the registers, and they'll put this on,” said Forschen.
The next is through ATMs, where a metal device is inserted to read your cards. The device is so small that a person who is using it can’t tell it’s there. Then, a camera is planted where the average person can’t see.
“It records the person's account information and then their code, whether it's a credit card or debit card, ATM card,” said Forschen.
After a day or more, the crook will come back and retrieve the items, which have data chips with all the credit information. The Secret Service believes those responsible are organized crime groups coming in from Europe.
“They developed it, they got it down to precise matter over in Europe, but Europe's gone away from using the slide to using to chip by itself. So, they're coming over here by various methods,” said Forschen.
When the crooks get the card information, they'll either sell it on the black market, make a new card, or just spend the funds. Credit skimmers have been found at places like Walmart and Giant Eagle, so Forschen reminds everyone to remain cautious.
Prevention
“If we go to point of sale terminals, we always tell people look at it. If it looks weird, it probably is. Give it a tug,” Forschen, “If you're going into use a ATM machine, when putting in your PIN number, the easiest way is to put your hand over the PIN.”
Forschen said that chips and touchless payments are always safe, and you should continuously check your credit report for any unknown transactions, even if it's just a dollar. If you are dealing with credit card fraud, immediately contact your bank.
Click here for more ways to protect your card.
'They left me 95 cents'
For Sword, she was told it would take 30 days to reimburse her EBT card, so she's been depending on her family until then.
She's worried she won't be able to provide an Easter for her kids.
She says she hopes whoever did it is caught.
A growing problem
Since June 1, the state of Ohio has paid out more than $1 million to victims of food stamp theft.
This man lost $1,400 in a matter of minutes.
Security experts told News 5 reporter Michelle Jarboe how to take precautions.
Federal law gives cardholders 90 days to file a theft report. County agencies have 30 days to respond.
