Police hope surveillance-video footage will help them snag a pair of debit-machine scammers who swapped a PIN pad at the Sahali Wendy’s restaurant.

RCMP Sgt. Scott Wilson and store general manager Joe Pigeon want customers to know the scam was discovered by Wendy’s staff before the culprits could get access to any banking information.

The surveillance footage shows the two men step up to the counter at 9:45 p.m. Saturday and order food, which they paid for in cash, Pigeon said Monday.

When the cashier turned away, the shorter of the two reached for the device. He stopped in mid-grab when another employee walked by.

As soon as the employee left the area, the man grabbed the PIN pad, disconnected it, and tucked it in his jacket. The larger of the pair replaced the device with another pad within seconds.

Pigeon said the PIN pads are marked with a Wendy’s sticker and checked every morning. When an employee examined the devices on Sunday, the suspect pad was discovered.

“Luckily, with the systems we have in place, we caught the PIN pads and no client cards, debit cards or credit card (numbers) were received by these individuals,” he said.

He said the dining area closes at 10 p.m. and the men were the last customers of the night.

Wilson said Wendy’s is one of the businesses RCMP educated about PIN pad fraud after a number of incidents were reported in Kamloops during the summer of 2008.

“It’s a huge challenge for law enforcement. It’s a huge challenge for society,” he said.

The suspects look like university students. No other incidents have been reported to police recently, said Wilson.

Anyone with information is asked to phone Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.