CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Someone used a skimmer to lift numbers from credit and debit cards used at a Charleston convenience store over the weekend, police said.
The stolen numbers were then used to purchase items at various locations, including those outside of West Virginia, Charleston Police Chief of Detectives Lt. Steve Cooper said.
“Someone had placed a skimmer in the pumps at the One Stop on the East End where it reads your credit card number and feeds it back to the suspect,” Cooper said. “That’s something that has happened across the country but we haven’t seen much of that here until now.”
Police began received calls over the weekend, Cooper said.
“We’ve got several reports that have already come in of people whose accounts were hacked. We are reviewing evidence and video and trying to get to the bottom of that,” Cooper said.
Consumers may want to consider other options when purchasing gasoline at least through the holiday season, Cooper said.
“I don’t want to be an alarmist but I don’t want a large number of people having their credit cards hacked either or debit cards. I would recommend that you pay inside until we get a handle on this,” Cooper said.