Man shocks shop workers after finding credit card skimmer at checkout

A TikTok user has gone viral after shocking both shop workers and millions of viewers after spotting a credit card skimmer on a store’s card machine.

In a video that has been viewed over 14.7 million times, TikToker keepityorkie shocked both viewers and shop workers as he detected a credit card skimmer on the store’s card machine.

“Hey you guys there’s a skimmer on here,” the TikToker said at the start of the video, as he stands at the checkout line of what appears to be a grocery store.

He then brings his hands to the card machine and begins to pry off the incognito-looking card-reading skimmer from it.

“You gotta pay for that,” the man behind the counter said as the TikToker continued to work on the card machine.

“Don’t do that,” the man behind the counter said before another person added: “Don’t do that, okay?”

“This is a skimmer,” the man said before showing off the device he’d removed to the woman behind the counter. “You see that, you see here?”

The people working at the store seemed confused as he confirmed he didn’t actually break the card reader.

The TikToker then explains what a skimmer device is and how it operates: “This is how you take people’s money. Get their credit card information,” he told to the workers.

A skimmer is a device installed on card readers that collects card numbers. Thieves will later recover and use this information to make fraudulent purchases. 

The TikToker went on to say that since the skimmer is removed, the machine can be used as intended without fear of someone getting their information taken by an unknown source/third party: “So now we can use it and it’s fine.”

In a follow-up video, keepityorkie showed off the skimmer up close, to teach people what to look out for. A real card machine should have a bright Tap logo and not be dim, the keyboard should have lights, and the area to insert cards should have lights. The frame of the machine should also be flush and not be able to be pulled off.

Thousands of people flocked to the comments, with many accusing the shop workers of putting the skimmer on the card machine, as one person said: “I worked in Credit Card loss prevention/fraud for years. 99% of the time the employees are responsible for the skimmer being there.”

However, the TikToker didn’t want to accuse them, as anyone could’ve put the skimmer there. He said: “I couldn’t say with 100% certainty that the store put it on or if it was an outside scammer. That’s why I don’t mention the name of the store.”