CLEVELAND — Giant Eagle has announced that skimmer devices used to gain access to customer credit and debit cards were found at five of its Ohio locations, including three in Greater Cleveland.
In a release sent to 3News on Wednesday, Giant Eagle said the skimmer devices "may have captured information only for a small number of customers who swiped a payment card on the PIN pads."
"Because most customers either insert or tap their chipped cards, the vast majority of customers visiting these stores are not affected," the supermarket chain noted. "Importantly, the only information at risk includes the payment card number and service codes.
Giant Eagle said the first skimmer device was discovered on a register PIN pad at the Market District location in Powell, north of Columbus. After that initial discovery was made, the company says it "immediately inspected" PIN pads at all of its supermarkets and identified additional skimmer devices at the following locations:
- 6300 Biddulph Road in Brooklyn
- 1825 Snow Road in Parma
- 4401 Mayfield Road in South Euclid
- 2801 N. High Street in Columbus
"Customers who have visited any of these five locations, used the magnetic swipe mechanism on the PIN pads and are concerned that they may have been impacted should closely monitor their account statements for signs of fraudulent activity," Giant Eagle advised in its release.
According to the release, the first tampered PIN pad was secured on Nov. 3 and the last was secured six days later. No additional skimmer devices were found at any other Giant Eagle locations.
Giant Eagle notes that upon identification of a skimmer, the device and the PIN pad are removed, the register lane is shut down and the skimmer is sent for a thorough forensic analysis, often taking weeks to conclude.
Since identifying the skimmer devices, the company says it has retrained store employees on identifying skimmer devices. Additionally, all potentially affected bank and credit card providers have been notified.