Richland Police Release Update on Walmart Card Skimmer

Richland Police now say the suspect who installed a card skimming device inside the Richland Walmart probably snapped it into place in about five seconds.

   RPD says only one skimmer was in use

Richland Police say the suspect is being sought after he placed the skimmer inside the Richland Walmart. It's presumed he did it in the self-checkout line because it was detected by another customer 26 hours later. The police did not confirm that.

They say it probably only took a few seconds for him to place it. No other such machines were found inside the store. The device was detected on Halloween and presumed to have been put in place around 2 PM on Sunday, the day before.

 Where do people get these devices?

According to several online security sources and blogs, there are actually places online that claim to rent or market them!

 A website called Krebs On Security says the latest threat is super thin "deep insert" skimmers. These are no thicker than a dime or credit card and are capable of being inserted deep inside an ATM or other cash-dispensing or transaction device.

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These devices are not simple, even the more common ones like the one found at Walmart. In order to 'build' one, you have to have considerable computer savvy.

That's why often these fraudsters travel in groups. During the gas pump card skimming wave we had a couple of years ago, area law enforcement was seeking what they believed to be a group of several people who were traveling through the Tri-Cities.

Commonly, they will set up the skimmers for 24-36 hours, get as much data as they can, then leave town. Anyone who may know who this suspect is, call (509)-628-0333. All leads can be confidential.