ATLANTA — The U.S. Secret Service is working to stop credit card skimming in a nationwide crackdown that includes Atlanta.

Working with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, the Secret Service says agents visited more than 9,000 businesses nationwide and removed more than 400 illegal skimming devices. Nearly 60,000 point-of-sale terminals, gas pumps, and ATMs were inspected during the operation.

Officials say the effort helped prevent an estimated potential loss of more than $428M.

The Secret Service says criminals use skimming devices to steal EBT and other payment card numbers. The devices capture card information and allow criminals to encode that data onto other cards with magnetic strips.

Atlanta was among the cities involved as part of the nationwide effort, which included more than 20 operations targeting EBT fraud and ATM skimming.

WSB Radio’s Bill Caiaccio contributed to this story.