Hy-Vee finds skimmers on 3 store ATMs

Hy-Vee Stores reported finding skimmer devices on ATMs in three Des Moines, Iowa-area stores Sunday.

After a customer reported problems at an Altoona ATM, the first skimmer was discovered Saturday evening. Hy-Vee said it notified store directors in all stores in the Des Moines area about the incident and began checking all other ATMs. The other two skimmers were found in Des Moines and West Des Moines late Saturday evening.

The incidents are under investigation by the Altoona, Des Moines and West Des Moines police departments. Based on initial findings, it is believed the skimmers on the ATMs in Des Moines and West Des Moines were in place for less than 12 hours. Investigators are still trying to determine how long the skimmer was on the Altoona ATM.

Hy-Vee owns and operates the impacted ATMs.

“While we believe the number of people impacted by these incidents is very limited, it is important for us to be proactive so our customers can protect themselves against any possible fraudulent activity,” Matt Ludwig, EVP and CIO at Hy-Vee, said in a press release. “In the upcoming days, we will work with banking institutions to notify the few customers who made a transaction at the three impacted ATMs. At this time, all of the ATMs at Hy-Vee stores in the Des Moines area have been inspected and no additional skimmers have been found.”

This isn’t the first time this year that supermarkets have been the target of skimmers. Last month, skimmers were found on foodservice and pizza registers at five Big Y stores, although no customer data was believed to be compromised, WWLP reports. Earlier this year, skimmer devices installed at supermarkets in New York resulted in 49 incidents of stolen data being used to access customer bank accounts, according to NBC New York.