New Jersey grocery store warns shoppers after surveillance footage appears to show a customer attaching a card skimmer to a checkout terminal

A grocery store in Springfield, New Jersey, is warning other businesses and shoppers to stay alert after releasing surveillance footage that shows a customer placing a device over one of its payment terminals. Gold Valley Supermarket posted the video on TikTok, where it drew more than 600,000 views within hours of being uploaded.

The footage appears to show a customer attaching what is believed to be a card skimmer to a checkout keypad. According to The Nerd Stash, the supermarket said it detected the device within 20 minutes and removed it before any other customers used the affected terminal with their chip cards. The store said it has notified police and is pursuing all available options to identify and locate the individual seen in the video.

In the footage, a man wearing a green shirt and a baseball cap can be seen standing next to a woman, believed to be his companion, as their groceries are being processed at the register. While the cashier is occupied completing the transaction, the man appears to take an object from his pocket and place it over the store’s card reader keypad.

Surveillance footage shows man placing device over card reader while cashier processes transaction 

The device appeared to fit over the existing machine in a way that made it look like the original card reader. In the footage, the man and woman then completed their purchase and left the store with their groceries.

Gold Valley Supermarket shared the video alongside a warning, urging other businesses and shoppers to be on the lookout for similar activity. The post quickly spread, with many viewers expressing both alarm and frustration in the comments section.

One commenter wrote, “Then people ask why I only pay cash.” Another said, “In my store I do daily checks. I protect my customers and my staff!” A third viewer stated, “I’m gonna start paying cash for everything,” while a fourth suggested, “Seems like with technology and all the other gadgets in the world. They can’t come up with some way to stop this. Maybe keep the scanner behind the register in the cashier hands to you when you need to use it I don’t know just a suggestion.”

According to the FBI, card skimming costs consumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion each year, and incidents have been reported at gas stations, ATMs, and retail checkout counters across the country. Card skimming, as the FBI stated, is a form of payment fraud in which a device is secretly placed over a legitimate card reader to capture data from a customer’s card when it is swiped or inserted. The stolen information can then be used to make unauthorized transactions or create counterfeit cards. 

Shoppers can take several steps to reduce their risk, as the FBI said, “Inspect ATMs, POS terminals, and other card readers before using. Look for anything loose, crooked, damaged, or scratched. Don’t use any card reader if you notice anything unusual.”