Credit card skimmers pose growing threat in Prince George’s County, police alert public

Josh Rosenthal
·1 min read

BELTSVILLE, Md. - Credit card skimming devices continue to be discovered throughout the region.

Just weeks after officials with the Metropolitan Police Department said they’d recovered five devices in the District, Prince George’s County investigators said Wednesday that they’ve now located 10 skimmers at businesses throughout the county in just the past three weeks.

"They’re convenience stores, they’re grocery stores, and they’re discount stores," explained Lt. Joseph Bellino. "The businesses, many of them, are being proactive. They’re aware of it, and they’re working jointly with us."

While officials with the Prince George’s County Police Department would not disclose the specific names of the businesses involved, they did provide this list of rough locations for the first eight businesses where they said skimmers were found:

  • 4500 block of Saint Barnabas Road in Temple Hills

  • 3000 block of Forestville Road in Forestville

  • 6100 block of Oxon Hill Road in Oxon Hill

  • 6800 block of Race Track Road in Unincorporated Bowie

  • 6300 block of Central Avenue in Seat Pleasant

  • 11000 block of Baltimore Avenue in Beltsville

  • 9100 block of Riggs Road in Chillum area

  • 5800 block of Greenbelt Road in College Park

As for tips on how to avoid becoming a victim, officials said to use contactless payment anywhere you can, to be on the lookout for devices with inoperable chip readers, and they added, that stores with heavy customer traffic are at greater risk for skimmers.