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Card Readers Tampered With At Bay Area Lucky Supermarkets

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Lucky Supermarkets has issued a warning to consumers after someone tampered with credit and debit card readers at several Bay Area Stores.

The company said that, during regular maintenance, staffers found signs of trouble at 19 locations. The store said the card readers affected were in the self check-out lanes only, not the regular lanes.

Lucky Supermarkets did not specify what the thieves did exactly, but they are warning customers to keep a close eye on their accounts.

Thieves have been tampering with card readers for years. The devices can store your card info and pin number for several days, which allows criminals to swap readers, take the devices home and download customer data. At gas stations, thieves have installed "skimmers," which read cards when they are swiped.

Save Mart, the parent company of Lucky Supermarkets said they have replaced card readers in the self-checkout lanes at the affected stores and improved security to every card reader in all 234 stores.

"We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern this Consumer Advisory may have caused our customers especially during this holiday time," the company said in a statement.

Here is the list of local stores impacted:

Pinole

Milpitas

Mountain View

Redwood City

El Cerrito

Daly City

Foster City

San Carlos

Millbrae

Alameda

Santa Clara on 234 Saratoga Ave.

San Francisco on 1515 Sloat Blvd.

Hayward on 25151 Santa Clara St.

Fremont on 5000 Mowry Ave. and 35820 Fremont Blvd.

San Jose on 5510 Monterey Highway, 200 El Paseo De Saratoga, 844 Blossom Hill Rd. and 3270 South White Road

Save Mart in Watsonville

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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