Dozens of North Texans are out thousands of dollars in a skimming scam that hit Collin County.
Skimming is an electronic way of capturing personal information. There are different variations of skimming devices, but thieves attached them to ATMs, gas pumps or anywhere with a point-of-sale reader, police said.
"It kind of seems to be a pretty hot commodity at this point," said Plano Police Det. Jerry Minton. "From malls to convenience stores. There's a buffet of areas to present these clone credit cards."
Plano police released a Crime Stoppers bulletin featuring a woman who is accused of cloning a credit card and using the information to make purchases at three stores.
"There's always a possibility it can be a large ring or just a small coordinated group," Minton said. "We're trying to keep up with the pace with what's going on but sometimes it is difficult."
Frisco police had five similar cases happen in one day in late May.
"At this time, there is no information for us to believe the suspect in the case is the same one released by Plano," Frisco Police Officer Colby Hill said.
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At least one of the cases in Frisco occurred at the ATM inside a 7-Eleven.
"I didn't know what a skimmer looked like until I went to the police station and filed a report. They showed me exactly what I should be looking for," said Sarah Haylock. "The majority of the money was taken from Stonebriar Centre. It was five or six stores including Academy Sports and a dollar store."
The purchases totaled $5,000, Haylock said.
