WEST FARGO — West Fargo police have a new tool to prevent the crime of credit card skimming.
Devices can be attached to a point-of-sale device in order for criminals to get the credit card information of anyone that uses it.
The new technology can be used on a point-of-sale card reader and detect if a skimmer is present.
Police say they can be found in any business that uses card readers.
West Fargo police are now asking business owners to sign up online to receive visits from detectives and investigators to provide additional education on checkout skimmers.
“We want them to sign up for this,” said Sgt. Craig Danielson, part of West Fargo Police’s criminal investigations unit. “To come to us and say, ‘Hey, we’re interested. As a business, we want to protect our consumers and we would like to work with the police department on this.’ And invite us to come in and inspect their devices. Yeah, we’re not gonna do this unsolicited.”
Police say people can protect themselves against credit card skimmers by looking for anything loose, crooked, or damaged before using a card reader and to avoid using it if anything looks unusual.