Walmart is making a change to self-checkout machines which has been dubbed a ‘chastity belt.’
The retailer has added a bright yellow ‘belt’ on top of pin pads on the machines following a surge in card skimming.
A Reddit user known as mateo360, who claims to be a Walmart employee, posted a photo of the machine captioned ‘my manager called it a chastity belt for the pin pad.’
It comes after a Reddit post featuring an image of a Walmart card reader with a similar gadget and red tape went viral.
‘I think this might be protecting the reader from people attaching skimmers,’ a Reddit user wrote.
‘If you look closely, you can see that those yellow edges are actually protruding outward, like the cover around the pin pad at an ATM,’ another person commented.
Card skimming is when someone illegally installs on a card reader or other devices to obtain someone’s personal data.
This could lead to a string of unauthorized transactions, identity theft, and counterfeit card creations.
Besides new tools, Walmart has removed self-checkout machines from some of its stores, hoping it would lessen the frequency of card skimming.
Skimming devices are usually found inserted in the card reader or can be attached to the key pad with a fake overlay.
Criminals also occasionally install pinhole cameras, which can be used to capture pin numbers being entered in the system.
There are ways shoppers and Walmart employees can tell if a machine has been compromised.
A card reader that’s loose, off-center, or has parts that wiggle, mean it has potentially been affected.
The machine could also have a thicker-than-normal key pad, along with differences in colors.
In the case of the ‘chastity belt,’ the gadget is reportedly protecting the key pad and terminal from skimmers.
Employees and shoppers will also know if a machine has been messed with if they notice red tape on the machine is missing or damaged.
Over 231,000 cards fell victim to card skimmers in 2024, a 27 percent decrease compared to the year before.
But Walmart has continued to be a frequented card skimming target nationwide.
A high-profile card skimming case occurred last summer in Connecticut when two men were caught installing fake pin pads into self-checkout terminals.
Skimming devices were also found in Walmarts throughout Virginia and three stores in Pennsylvania in March.
Other machines card skimmers typically strike are gas pumps, ATMs, and registers at restaurants and bars.
Card skimming is expected to cause Americans significant financial loss again this year – and potentially cost cardholders and financial institutions more than $1 billion in damages.
