A customer at a Cumberland Farms in Southborough, Massachusetts, is being credited for saving the day not only for himself but perhaps many others after he found an illegal skimming device inside the store.
“It said enter your 4-digit code and a light bulb went off and I said, ‘oh let me give it a little jiggle,’” recalled Brian Murphy.
Murphy was about to withdraw money from the ATM inside the Route 9 store when he took a closer look.
“I gave my little wiggle to the card reader, and there was a little movement to it,” said Murphy.
The 25-year-old had recently read a post on the website Reddit which taught him to check closely when he’s using an ATM.
“It read ‘thank you Reddit you saved myself from credit card theft. Always jiggle an ATM reader,’” said Murphy.
Skimming devices are used by criminals to steal information from the magnetic stripe on an ATM card.
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They’re typically placed on top of the ATM’s card reader.
Murphy knew something wasn’t quite right and summoned a store employee.
“He watched me rip the credit card skimmer off of the ATM,” said Murphy.
Investigators say customers who had recently used the ATM should contact their bank or credit card company.
“It’s kind of sickening in a sense to know someone’s come in and plopping on a little piece of plastic to a machine that has the ability to really negatively impact your life,” said Murphy.
Cumberland Farms declined to comment.
