Watch Out for These Convenience Store Card Reader Scams

Get our free mobile app

A scam that is far too easy to fall victim to nowadays is card skimmers. You mostly find them on gas pumps and ATMs, but now, people are finding them attached to the card readers at convenience stores.

This is one of those scams that you won’t even think twice about because it just looks like a normal card reader. You only realize something went wrong when you start seeing charges on your account that you know you didn’t make. Then you have to go through the hassle of locking your card, making chargebacks, and hoping that you’ll get all your money back.

This happened to me at a Lubbock gas pump a few years ago, so now I always check the pup’s reader before inserting my cars. It’s the kind of mistake that only has to happen once for you to start being extremely cautious, trying to avoid it ever happening again.

Now, after seeing a couple of videos go viral, I'm going to be checking every card reader I come across. Especially ones at convenience stores.

There have been cases, specifically in California, of card skimmers being placed over the card readers at 7/11. These skimmers are made to look just like the card reader and simply sit on top of the device, scanning your card information and then recording the pin you type into the number pad.

Some people are concerned that it is the employees that are attempting these scams, but others believe it is other customers that are doing it when the cashiers aren’t paying attention. Either way, I highly suggest giving the card readers a look over before using them if you’re worried about these skimmers. Thankfully, they seem easy to take off from the videos I've seen, so just a slight wiggle to the face of the reader should tell you if there is a skimmer attached or not.

Either way, this is a great reminder to be aware of these types of scams and to watch out for any fraudulent activity on your cards.