A credit card skimmer recovered by the Sidney Police Department. (SIDNEY POLICE PHOTO)
Officers of the Sidney Police Department report a credit card skimmer device was recovered Sunday, Nov. 19, during a call to a local business.
About 2:45 p.m., Sidney officers were dispatched to the Family Dollar Store, located at 1024 Wapakoneta Ave., relating to the skimmer device located on one of the store’s register credit card readers.
The device had been discovered by a customer making a purchase after the skimmer device worked itself loose from the credit card reader, officers said.
Upon reviewing the store video it was discovered that device had been covertly placed around 1:30 p.m. p.m. that day. The suspects involved were two males of Middle Eastern descent, officers said.
One of the individuals reportedly distracted the register clerk with a product question, resulting in the clerk leaving the register area momentarily. After the clerk’s attention was turned away, the second individual placed the skimmer device over the store’s credit card reader.
The reader was in place for about 1 hour and 15 minutes before it was discovered.Upon its discovery, it appeared that the device was wired to a self-contained power source and operational.
With this recent event, it is asked of all merchants to check their credit card readers to ensure that other skimmer devices have not been covertly installed. As a reminder, it is good practice to check for these devices on a routine basis.
If anyone has information about this event or the identity of the suspects, call Sidney Police Detective John Curtis at (937) 498-2351 or leave the information with Crime Stoppers at (937) 492-8477 (TIPS).