St Mary's sheriff's office looking for credit card skimming suspects

The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is looking for two individuals suspected of placing a card skimming device over a checkout terminal in the Dollar General in Charlotte Hall last month.

A skimmer is a device illegally put over the top of an ATM, gas pump or a point of sale terminal for the goal of capturing that card’s data.

An employee at the store in Charlotte Hall indicated that the machine at one register was malfunctioning and, upon inspection, a plastic piece mimicking the keypad was found taped over the machine’s actual debit/credit card terminal’s keypad.

“[The employee] then proceeded to detach an unknown plastic piece that was covering the keypad,” said Capt. Stephen Simonds of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office in a telephone interview. Simonds added the keypad “mimicked the appearance of the original device and had all of the indicators of a functioning keypad. That was the first red flag.”

Simonds said the suspects even took an employee-written message that was on the original device and “they took that note off and put it back in the same spot.”

Surveillance footage showed two individuals entering the store on May 24 at approximately 11:51 a.m. Both suspects then exited the store and left on foot.

The individual who allegedly placed the skimming device is described as a white or possibly biracial male with bushy hair, a dark mustache, a dark-colored tattoo on the left side of his neck, and a piercing in his left ear. The second individual is described as a white or Middle Eastern male with darker skin, long dark hair and a goatee.

“The thing that kind of surprised me with this is it was a weekday to come into the store,” Simonds said. “That’s not low-hanging fruit. There are a lot of easier targets. Criminals need things [like] ability, opportunity. So typically you work under dark so if it’s a busy store you don’t want people looking at you.”

Simonds said the device was able to capture data whether the customer inserted the card, used the computer chip or used the tap feature.

He said the device “more than likely did not use” Bluetooth, which would have allowed the suspects to transfer information to their phones. Instead, he said the suspects would have returned in a few days to collect the unit.

“It’s akin to putting up a trail camera, waiting a week then go back at look at your pictures,” he said.

He said individuals can take some steps to make sure their cards are not being compromised.

First, use the tap feature on cards, which he said would be his “No. 1 recommendation. That’s your best route of payment because you’re not putting your card into anything. That would be my go-to.” He said using the computer chip is “medium risk” while inserting a card with a magnetic stripe would be “high risk.”

He also recommended to do a visual or physical inspection of the terminal to look for misalignment, whether it’s loose or has bulky components.

“They use double-sided tape, enough that they can grab it and go,” Simonds said, “but something that will hold it enough so it won’t pop off by itself.”

Customers should look at color and textures. Simonds said point of sales manufacturers are consistent, so look for things that are of different colors, uneven or hard to press buttons. The skimming device had an unusual F key on the bottom left of the keypad and a period, comma, semi-colon and star symbol on the bottom right.

The captain said people should use gas pumps and ATMs close to kiosks where lighting is good.

“We usually do not see these types of skimmers,” Simonds said. “This is not a trend that we’ve really become accustomed to [but] I figure its naive to think this is the first time it’s happened in St. Mary’s County.”

Customers who made purchases at the Dollar General in Charlotte Hall between May 24 and 26 should check their bank or credit card statements for fraudulent activity. If you suspect anyone has been a victim of such fraud, they can call the sheriff’s office non-emergency number at 301-475-8008 to file a report.

Anyone who has tips on the identity of the suspects can contact Dep. Anthony Cucinotta at 301-475-4200, ext. 8174, or Anthony.Cucinotta @stmaryscountymd.gov or Lt. Ed Evans at 301-475-4200, ext. 8018, or Edward.Evans@stmaryscountymd.gov and reference case number 27790-24.