Customers at three Food City supermarkets in the Knoxville area have been put on high alert after card skimmers capable of stealing credit and debit card details were discovered at the establishments. K-VA-T Food Stores, the parent company of Food City, confirmed on Friday that the illicit devices targeted one register each at separate locations in Kodak, Gatlinburg, and the Mechanicsville area of Knoxville, as was first reported by WVLT.
These fraudulent card skimmers, designed to clandestinely record card numbers and pins from unwary shoppers, siphon information when a customer swipes their card's magnetic strip. A proactive security sweep conducted by the company found the skimming devices and led to the summoning of police for further investigation. In a clever twist of fate, surveillance cameras installed at the stores helped security identify the perpetrators, who were detained during a bold attempt to return to the scene of the crime to gather the stolen data, according to officials at K-VA-T Food Stores.
In effort to mitigate the situation, Food City took initiative to inspect over 2,500 card readers across its network, fortunately finding no further incidents of tampering. The grocer has since ramped up security measures, increasing inspections of card readers daily, Food City said in a statement acquired by WBIR. While only customers who swiped their cards have been affected, the company has notified individuals potentially impacted by the scam and is advising all customers to vigilantly review their bank and credit card statements.
The presence of the skimming devices was first detected at the Mechanicsville store on Western Avenue in Knoxville, with additional finds at stores in Gatlinburg and Kodak. Food City has been quick to warn affected patrons who visited these locations between April 9 and April 17 to closely monitor their accounts for any suspicious activity — advice echoed in a statement released by K-VA-T Food Stores and shared by WATE. Customers, especially ones who shopped and swiped their magnetic striped card through the reader during that time frame, are advised to also keep an eye on their credit reports as an additional precautionary measure.
