(ABC 6 News) – Credit card skimmers are to allow scammers to steal your credit card information, and Pine Islanders were shocked when one was discovered Monday at the Dollar General Store that was apparently installed over a month ago on December 13th.

Related: Credit card skimmer caught at Dollar General in Pine Island

One resident of Pine Island said he had $292 on his card, before he discovered he didn’t have money later when he was grocery shopping. After tracking the card down, two different transactions of $195 and $95 showed up that wasn’t his.

“Police got back to me a couple hours later and she was saying that the card was used in Miami and that is had to be a skimmer out here, somewhere in Pine Island, wherever we used the card at. So I’m assuming it was either Pine Island market or this store because we got here the most,” said Dana Wilson, a Pine Island resident.

Wilson warned the public to be on the lookout for anything suspicious when swiping a credit card at any store.

“If you’re up by a reader just make sure what you’re using, there’s not anything on top of it. Or if anything looks funny, maybe try to check it out. Always be more cautious for sure,” Wilson said.

According to the United Credit Union, ways to avoid your card being skimmed include doing a quick scan before using a machine to see if it’s been tampered with, using a mobile form of payment such as Apple Pay, and making sure to check your account regularly.

The Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating how the skimmer was placed in the store and when. They encourage anyone with information to reach out to 651-385-3155.