‘Nothing more they can do,’ cries mother, who says she was left with a $0 balance after swiping her card at Giant supermarket

A mother had her bank account emptied in her sleep after visiting a local supermarket.

Denae Carr of Washington D.C. was left visiting food banks and borrowing money from relatives after scammers stole more than $300.

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She realized something was wrong after checking her banking app and seeing a $360 withdrawal made at 6:49 a.m. on March 15, Carr told the NBC News affiliate. WRC-TV.

Carr claims he was sleeping at this time and believes his account was deleted after scammers stole his EBT card details.

The mother last used her card at a Giant grocery store in Brentwood, where she believes she was the victim of a skimmer.

These are card readers installed in payment machines that clone bank details and PINs that scammers collect to gain access to bank accounts.

“I depended on it a lot,” Carr said of the stolen money.

“I have a two-year-old son who needs to eat and needs clothes for everything.”

She became dependent on food banks and kind relatives after the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) said it would take between 12 and 30 business days to investigate, Carr told the news outlet.

The desperate mother asked DHS what she could do in the meantime.

“They said food banks and that was it,” she recalled.

“There is nothing more they can do for me and it is very stressful.

“So now I have to call family members to borrow $20 here and there.”

The mother called on authorities to do more to help victims of such fraud immediately after their money went missing.

“They need to take this more seriously,” she said after data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said other states like Maryland refund money much faster than D.C.

“They should reimburse people who are going through this, just at times like this, because sometimes people don’t have family or friends to depend on or care for,” he added.

Following the incident in March, Giant told the news outlet that no reports had been received regarding the alleged skimmer device, but that they would investigate Carr’s claim.

Meanwhile, Northwest DC is battling recurring skimmer device scams.

A 7-Eleven store has been targeted by fraud at least three times in just over a month after employees found and removed another skimmer machine from an ATM in the store earlier this week.

The Metropolitan Police Department believes the device was connected to devices found at other stores in the area.

These include Safeway, WAWA and Harris Teeter.

Police have issued important advice for ATM shoppers and users:

The following advice has been issued to ATM purchasers and users in relation to skimmer devices:

• Does the keyboard or card reader move when touched? If so, don’t use it.
• If possible, compare your machine to the next one.
• Check the alignment of the card reader and panel below
• Look inside the card reader before inserting the card.
• Protect your PIN information.
• Call 911 if you suspect a skimmer has been installed.
• Contact your bank immediately if you believe you have been a victim of such a device.

The US Sun has reached out to Giant, Carr and the Metropolitan Police Department for an update.

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