Credit Card Skimmer Found on St. Petersburg 7-Eleven ATM

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The St. Petersburg Police Department is looking for help identifying a woman its officers say put a credit and debit card skimming device inside an ATM machine.

According to the agency, the crime occurred at 7-Eleven, 6161 4th St. N. The store’s clerk told officers a woman came into the store around 8 a.m. Sept. 27 and acted suspiciously. About two hours after the woman left, the clerk checked the ATM and discovered the woman had placed a plastic piece with a skimmer over the card reader. The plastic had been painted green to match the colors used by 7-Eleven, an email from the police department said.

Skimmers are high-tech devices meant to capture a person’s debit or credit card information when a card is swiped at the pump or used at an ATM. Skimmers are generally placed inside gas pump or ATM cabinets, making them very difficult for victims to spot. In the St. Petersburg case, the skimmer was set up to steal the data from victims’ cards when they were swiped in the machine.

“We don’t believe many, if any, customers used the machine while the skimmer was in place,” the department’s email said. “However, we would like to identify the woman.”

Anyone who recognizes the woman in the video is asked to call the police department at 727-893-7780. Tips may also be submitted by texting the keyword SPPD and the tip to 847-411.

The suspect is described as a white female with brown hair. She wore her hair in a ponytail and was last seen wearing a white and blue top with the number “88” on the front. The woman drove a newer model silver BMW, police say.

A similar case occurred earlier this month at a 7-Eleven in Bradenton.

Photos and video courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department