The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office is warning shoppers after it found credit/debit card skimmers in three Northshore stores.
Deputies have secured an arrest warrant for 32-year-old Petru Golvan of Washington state. Golvan happens to be in the Jefferson Parish jail right now on similar charges.
"In the past we have found skimmers on gas pumps and ATM machines," said St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith. "But the criminals are getting more brazen, and we are now starting see a new trend of them being placed on credit/debit card readers at checkouts inside retail stores."
Smith said he is asking business owners to check their credit/debit readers often to make sure they have not been tampered with.
He is also advising consumers to look closely at debit/credit car readers before using them, and if anything looks suspicious (not fitting tight, gaps or extra plastic or the look doesn’t match other readers in the same business), to notify the business.
