A skimming device has been found at a business in the Mall 205 area.
Tuesday morning, an officer from the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct responded to the Dollar Tree store located at 10534 Southeast Washington Street. When she arrived, the officer determined that an employee had found a skimming device attached to the card reader at register five, the checkout station nearest the store entrance.
Skimming devices are illegal tools secretly placed on card readers at retail terminals, ATMs, or gas pumps to capture customers’ credit or debit card information during transactions.
PPB is urging anyone who shopped at this Dollar Tree location between the morning of Saturday, September 20, and Tuesday morning, September 23, to closely review their credit or debit card statements for any unauthorized or suspicious activity.
If you believe your information may have been compromised, please contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon… and reference case number 25-262286.
More Skimmers Found In Tigard
The first was discovered by a customer at the 7-11 store on 99W & SW Park Street at 12:42am on Sunday, September 21. The customer told an employee about it, and the employee removed the skimmer and called police. Surveillance video shows it was likely placed the previous evening, around 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, September 20. Detectives are working to identify the potential suspect.
Just after noon that same day, a second skimmer was discovered at the Dollar Tree on SW 99W & SW Hall Blvd. In that case, the manager reported finding the device on one of the credit card readers. The manager removed it and reported it to police.
A third device was discovered at another Dollar Tree store on SW 99W and SW Durham Road the same day. The assistant manager reported finding it and immediately removing it, but that report wasn’t made to police until Tuesday morning, September 23.
All three cases have been referred to detectives with the Tigard Police Commercial Crimes Unit. We are aware that other skimmers have been discovered in other areas throughout the Portland Metro region over the last few days as well.
If you believe you used a credit or debit card at any of the above locations, please check your bank statement and watch for suspicious or fraudulent activity.
It’s a good reminder for all of us to take additional steps to protect your information where possible, including:
- using the ‘tap’ feature or a mobile wallet instead of swiping your card
- checking card readers for signs of tampering (looseness, broken security seal, unusual bulkiness, wiggle the card slot) and notifying an employee if something seems off
- covering the keypad when entering your pin to prevent a camera from potentially capturing it
- regularly checking statements and opting in for real-time notifications of credit card transactions
Source: Portland Police & Tigard Police