Multiple Card Skimmers Discovered at Local Businesses in the Gorge
A post on social media by Big River Business Services alerting the public about recent skimming incidents in the Columbia River Gorge.
By Cole Goodwin
Hood River, Ore., May 23, 2024 – A card skimmer was discovered at Windmaster Market, a family owned and operated business at 1650 Tucker Rd in Hood River this morning at around 9:20 a.m. Windmaster is the latest in a string of local businesses including Treebird Market, Carson General, the Hood River Walmart and Hood River Astro, that have been targeted by skimmers this week.
Hood River County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating the most recent incident to see if a suspect can be identified. CCCNews has reached out to the Sheriff’s Office for more information.
All local businesses are advised to check their point of sale machines for anything suspicious.
Customers of Windmaster Market, Walmart, Treebird Market, Carson General, Hood River Walmart, and Hood River Astro are advised to carefully review their accounts and alert their financial institutions to let them know they may have been skimmed and alert the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office immediately if they find any suspicious activity.
What is a skimmer?
Illegally installed card skimmers can be installed by scammers at ATM’s and point-of-sale terminals and fuel pumps to capture debit and credit cardholder data and PIN’s. The counterfeit reader scans the card's magnetic strip and keypad to steal the cardholder's information. The skimmer can then later be retrieved by the thief or the data can be sent to them via bluetooth, (depending on the skimmer).
”Skimmers are the new catalytic converter,” said Elona Trogub, owner of Big River Business Services, “These skimmer are becoming more and more common.”
Types of Skimmers and Shimmers
Swipe Skimmers fit over the card slot and keypad and read the card’s information as it’s swiped.
Insert Shimmers are hidden inside the card reader and steal information when a card is inserted into the payment slot. (Shimmers are generally less common than swipe skimmers.)
Tap Skimmers are hidden inside of a card reader and steal information from contactless payments. (Less common type of skimmer.)
Skimming costs consumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion annually.
Six Ways to Protect Yourself
Sign up for text or email alerts on your card.
Avoid swiping your card, as this is the most common way people get skimmed.
Use a chip-enabled card. Chip cards are end to end encrypted and are generally considered safer than magnetic stripe cards. And use the chip reader when available.
Tap it. Use contactless payments.
Consider using a mobile wallet.
Inspect the card reader. Look for security seals on gas pump card readers and do not use the card reader if the seal is broken.
Check you card statements really thoroughly.
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