Safeway stores hit by credit card skimmers

Whenever I swipe or insert my debit card into an unfamiliar device, I usually give it a good glance over, and poke and prod it every so subtly. Once in a while, I get an awkward look from someone I'm with, or from the cashier. But there's a good reason for it. I'm checking to see that everything is the factory-default, so to speak. And after Safeway's most recent announcement, you might want to do the same.

According to the company, a handful of stores were targeted by thieves using card skimmers on some of the checkout lanes in Colorado Safeway stores. The announcement comes after a number of customers reported having their bank accounts drained of cash, not long after shopping at the store.

After working with customers, the stores were able to track down the pads used to skim the card information. What's unfortunate is that we don't actually have any images of the devices and the skimmers used. Personally, I like to know what to look for, when I'm swiping my card.

Even if you're not able see anything amiss when you're using your card at the checkout lane, or at an ATM, it's always good to frequently check your bank account. Sometimes by doing that, you're able to catch the issue before your entire account has been drained. And not all card information theft comes from physical devices, as Target shoppers learned around this time a couple years back.

Source: KrebsonSecurity