McKinney

McKinney Woman Finds Credit Card Skimmer Hidden in Plain Sight Inside Gas Station

A woman returns to a convenience store and finds a card skimmer after her bank account was 'wiped clean'

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You’ve likely read warnings about credit card skimmers found on gasoline pumps before. A woman says she discovered a scam that she never expected, hidden in plain sight inside a busy convenience store near Medical City McKinney.

The victim, Nyshje Rattler, recorded a video of her discovery and shared it on social media.

“I’ve always heard of it happening at the gas pumps. I always tug on it, but I’ve never heard of it happening inside a store,” said Rattler. “I didn’t think it would happen in McKinney of all places.”

Nyshje Rattler
NBC 5 News
Nyshje Rattler

Her ordeal began Wednesday when she tried to buy a bag of chips at the 7-Eleven near her home.

“They said: You don’t have the money. And I said: Excuse me,” she recalled.

A call to her bank revealed her account had been ‘wiped clean.’

“They said: $300 was spent at Walmart in Houston. $200 at a Walmart in Katy. $187 at a Walmart in Houston. I was like: That’s not me,” said Rattler.

She thought back to the only purchase she did make Monday night at the 7-Eleven along Medical Center Drive where she makes small purchases about five times a week.

“He [the cashier] was obsessive about how I placed the pen down so I thought that was weird,” she said. “I kept replaying it in my head.”

She remembered a case out of Los Angeles of a credit card skimmer and decided to return to the store to inspect both card readers.

“I compared the two and I noticed that the one I grabbed was bulkier on the side, kind of sticking out. It wasn’t flat like they said. So, I just lifted it up and it came up,” she said.

Nyshje Rattler/NBC 5 News
A McKinney woman, Nyshje Rattler, discovers a card skimmer device on a terminal inside a 7-Eleven.

McKinney Police are now investigating the incident and said skimmers are devices criminals place over credit card readers to collect card numbers that are later used to spend the victim’s money.

“The skimmer is being forensically examined right now,” said McKinney Police Department spokeswoman Carla Marion Reeves.

The lieutenant leading the investigation was unavailable for comment on Friday.

It is not clear what charges could be leveled against the person or persons responsible.

Since Rattler’s video has been shared on several social media platforms, MPD said one additional potential victim came forward on Thursday.

It is also unclear whether police believe the scam was an “inside job,” but there are ways to try and protect yourself from these scams.

“You can actually try to jiggle it. Try to pull it,” said Reeves. “There’s some double-sided tape that is used to keep them down, nothing more, so criminals can easily take it.”

The store’s manager told NBC 5 they have no comment on the allegations. The owner did not respond to NBC 5’s request for information or a statement.

If you believe you were a victim of fraud at the 7-Eleven on Medical Center Drive, you are urged to call the McKinney Police Department’s non-emergency number at 972-547-2700.

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