Police investigating card skimming incident, warning public

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Two unidentified suspects, in a swift Saturday night operation, targeted the El Marcado Market in Georgetown, swapping out their card reader for a skimming device that can collect card and personal identification numbers.

Lieutenant Matthew Barlow with the Georgetown Police Department said these crimes are on the rise throughout the country.

“Now, you don’t go into a store without seeing a credit card machine, so unfortunately, with that and with that ease of electronic use of our credit cards and phones, it tends to make it easy prey,” said Lt. Barlow.

This incident mirrors a string of skimming devices popping up in Dollar Generals across Delaware, last summer. Police urge shop owners to stay vigilant and watch out for those operating in pairs. Often, one distracts the employee, while the other swaps the devices.

“If you’ve got 2 people distracting 1 person, obviously, they’re going to have a certain advantage,” said Lt. Barlow. “They’re used to doing this, obviously by the way that they work, the way that they were operating, it was very much they were more in control of the situation.”

El Marcado Market declined an interview, but stated in a Facebook post they were, “…Working to implement enhanced security measures to prevent such incidents in the future, including regular terminal inspections, increased surveillance, and employee training on detecting fraudulent activity.”

As for steps you can take as a consumer, Lt. Barlow had this advice: “It seems like something’s wrong, then call the cashier over, call the store employee over, just to take a look at it and be aware of it.”