Marion police investigating credit card skimmer

Published 9:53 am Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Marion Police Department Cpl. Dashun Reed holds up a credit card skimming device located at a local business over the weekend. The department is investigating the reader’s origins and checking other businesses in town for similar devices. Photo by Thomas Howard

Marion Police Department is investigating after a credit card skimmer was found at a local business over the weekend.

Cpl. Dashun Reed on Tuesday said the device was found attached to the credit card reader at Dollar General on Saturday after a customer’s card was repeatedly declined. The device, which slips over the key pad, looks similar to the number pad on the actual machine.

“It was Saturday night around like 7:30,” he said. “The lady came and said that her card wasn’t swiping. It wasn’t working.”

The skimmer works by wiring money to a scammer’s bank account, Reed said, and it is possible to trace the IP address of the reader to find the account. While Marion doesn’t have the technology to do that, he said Meridian and Lauderdale County do, and he planned to reach out to them for assistance.

Reed said he also wanted to alert Meridian Police Department and Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department about the skimmer so they can keep an eye out for any other devices that may be installed in the area.

“What I’m doing today is I’m going around to every business today to make sure there’s no more of these. Every store, every business,” he said. “Then, once I get done with my investigation and my report, I’m going to send this to Lauderdale County and Meridian.”

In December, two Romanian men were sentenced to federal prison in the U.S. Southern District Court of Mississippi for using similar card skimming devices in Jones, Rankin and Madison counties. The case was investigated by the Cyber Fraud Task Force, consisting of members of the U.S. Secret Service and investigators from the state Attorney General’s office.

In a news release announcing the arrests, the Cyber Fraud Task Force said residents can take simple precautions to keep their banking data safe including using chip readers or tap-to-pay payment methods and by examining card readers prior to swiping a card. Skimming devices will add bulk to the reader, making it disproportionate to other card readers nearby.