SCAMMERS have left shoppers across the nation on edge, fearing they could become the next victims at any moment. ..Read Full Article
One shopper recently posted on Reddit about his last visit to Walmart, which caused a lot of anxiety as he finished checking out of the store.
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“So I went into Walmart to purchase some things and as I was scanning my items at self-checkout a man approached me,” the Reddit post starts.
“He was wearing normal street clothes but said he worked for Walmart and asked if he could scan the card reader with his phone as I was checking out,” the post continued.
“He wasn’t entirely clear on the reason he needed to do this but said it was part of a Walmart audit or something.”
“I of course told him no and that he could do whatever with the self checkout when I was finished with it,” he explained.
But then, according to the post, this is where things started to get weirder.
“He got irate and kept repeating he works for Walmart and walked away.”
This confusing encounter left the customer puzzled, and decided to take his questions to the popular social media platform to ask for opinions.
“Is there some way he could have stolen my payment info if I had allowed him to scan the card reader with his phone?,” the man asked the group R/Scams.
The top-up-voted comment explained, “He’s not scanning anything.”
“He’s either got a skimmer on that card reader and is trying to download the data via Bluetooth or he was going to PUT a skimmer on that card reader,” read the comment.
Checkout warning after secret device that steals all shoppers’ information is found at three retailers in ‘brazen’ move
“You should monitor your account and report the interaction to a Walmart manager,” the comment continued.
Another commenter, who claims to work for the chain, said this interaction was indeed odd.
“I work for Walmart as an asset protection investigator, and normally, we don’t approach someone prior to them crossing the last point of sale,” they explained.
“This is abnormal behavior for an API and should be reported regardless,” they said.
What is a skimmer device?
A skimmer device is a fraud tool designed to steal sensitive information from credit or debit cards during transactions.
- Imagine a skimmer device as a sneaky thief that hides on ATMs or card machines.
- Its job is to secretly steal your credit or debit card information when you use it for a transaction.
- These devices are like tiny spies that can copy your card details, including the card number and PIN, without you even realizing it.
- Skimmers can be cleverly disguised to look just like the regular card reader, making them hard to spot.
- Once they have your information, bad guys can use it to make fake cards or buy things without your permission, causing a lot of trouble and stress.
- It’s important to always be cautious and check for anything unusual on card machines before using them to protect yourself from these sneaky devices.
The comment explained that Walmart employees “are not to approach or stop someone’s transaction.”
“If we did, this would be considered a stop, and by policy means that we have to go through the whole process with you.”
“If he was an API, then he made a false stop, and if he wasn’t, you should still report it to the Walmart ethics hotline,” the comment concluded.
“This sounds more like someone purely posing as an employee, to do whatever scam they had in mind,” read another comment.
The US Sun has reached out to Walmart asking for a possible explanation surrounding the employee in question in this customer’s experience.
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