Financial safety

Credit card skimmers at Walmart locations resemble skimmer kit

Credit card skimmers – which capture customers' card information at point-of-sale systems – have recently been found in connection with a string of Walmart thefts in Fredericksburg, Va., and Fort Wright, Ky. And the thieves may be using skimmers that are part of a criminal kit.

The skimmers used in the thefts resemble those in a recent criminal sales pitch, according to a blog post by Krebs on Security. That kit retailed for $200-$300, not including power and storage, and includes:

• An "overlay" skimmer on the PIN pad to capture a user's PIN
• A mechanism for recording the data on a magnetic stripe
• A wire for offloading the data once thieves have retrieved the devices

The kits are made to piggyback on card readers sold by POS terminal supplier Ingenico, which are used at Walmart stores across the country.