Earlier this week, news broke that someone had been tampering with the credit card readers in those ever-so-handy self-checkout kiosks at various Bay Area Lucky Supermarket locations. Save Mart Supermarkets, parent company to the Lucky chain, discovered the credit card skimmers at 24 locations from Watsonville to Petaluma. Although the company originally reported that the data-swiping scam only stole personal information from 23 customers and 80 employees, that number has since risen to roughly 500 as more shoppers call in to report allegedly compromised personal data.
According to a Save Mart PR director, each of the 24 stores affected only had one of the credit card skimmers hidden in a self-checkout lane. The skimmers are installed in the credit card readers and grab the numbers off of your credit or debit card when users swipe as usual.
Needless to say, if you've been shopping at a Lucky or a Save Mart in the Bay Area and used the self-checkout aisle, be sure to check your bank statements for any suspicious activity. Some unlucky victims have already been relieved of money from their accounts. If you think you're data was nabbed, Save Mart encourages you to call their Customer Support Center at 800-692-5710.
The list of locations with tampered readers:
815 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda
6843 Mission St., Daly City
1000 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito
5000 Mowry Ave., Fremont
35820 Fremont Blvd., Fremont
919 Edgewater Blvd., Foster City
25151 Santa Clara St., Hayward
45 Murchison Drive, Millbrae
1350 S Park Victoria Dr., Milpitas
715 E El Camino Real, Mountain View
1761 Grant Ave., Novato
939 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma
1530 Fitzgerald Drive, Pinole
200 Woodside Plaza, Redwood City
1133 Old County Rd., San Carlos
234 Saratoga Ave., Santa Clara
5510 Monterey Highway, San Jose
200 El Paseo De Saratoga, San Jose
844 Blossom Hill Rd., San Jose
3270 South White Rd., San Jose
1515 Sloat Blvd., San Francisco
484 N Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale
32300 Dyer St., Union City
SaveMart, 1465 Main St., Watsonville
