Credit Card 'Skimmers' Found at County Gas Stations

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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The skimmer found at the Dalton Avenue Cumberland Farms. The device covers the keypad on the credit card reader to intercept card and personal identification number. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A credit card "skimmer" was found at the Dalton Avenue Cumberland Farms on Friday.  Police are urging customers who used their credit cards at the store over the last 10 days to contact their provider immediately.

This is just one day after a similar device was found at Cumberland Farms in Great Barrington. An employee found it attached to the Pittsfield location's card machine and called the police.

"This device was found placed at Register 1 inside the store, and with information gathered so far it appears it had been placed there on September 4th in the morning hours," the Pittsfield Police Department wrote on Facebook.

"If you used your credit/debit at the store from September 4th until today, we would advise you to immediately contact your card provider to have a new card issued. We would also advise those folks to check their transactions to see if any suspicious charges are found."

Skimming occurs when devices illegally installed on or inside ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, or fuel pumps capture card data and record cardholders' PIN entries. This is then used to create fake payment cards and then make unauthorized purchases or steal from victims' accounts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion annually.



"Many times cards that were caught up in scams are sold on the black market and may not show any suspicious activity for a period of time," PPD wrote.

"One way to check your card is to look for any purchases that are $1.00. The scammers first try these minimum charges to see if your card is still active. If your card allows you to receive immediate notifications every time it's used, this will help catch these fraudulent incidents almost instantaneously."

On Thursday, the GB police reported the skimmer incident on Facebook and said it is under investigation. The department reminded customers to be vigilant of their bank and credit card accounts and report any fraudulent activity.


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Joann Fabric in Pittsfield Targeted for Closure

Staff ReportsiBerkshires
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Joann Fabric and Crafts store on Dalton Avenue is among some 500 set to close. 
 
Joann Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year to restructure and filed again last month. On Wednesday, the bankruptcy filings noted that liquidation should start immediately. 
 
Pittsfield was among the 19 Massachusetts stores identified for closure, as well as the store in the Hampshire Mall in Hadley. Two Vermont stores are closing along with several in New York's Capital District.
 
Overall, 53 stores out of 800 are slated to be shuttered. Joann is the only large scale material retailer in the area. Walmart eliminated its bolt fabrics a few years ago and Michaels offers a smaller selection. There are also several quilt shops in the region but they tend not to have the variety of fabrics offered by Joann. 
 
Alvarez & Marsal North America LLC, the restructuring consultant, stated that there was no interest by bidders on a subset of stores and that "it is in the best interest of the Debtors' estates to immediately commence Store Closing Sales at this subset of
stores."
 
The upcoming Presidents Day holiday weekend was identified as "a significant opportunity to meet or beat the Debtors' revenue projections from store closing
sales."
 
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