Crime

Buy gas in Marine? Credit card skimmers found on pumps

By Mary Cooley

November 15, 2018 01:02 PM

How to spot a skimmer at a gas pump or ATM

Eric Vitale, fraud investigation specialist with the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Police Department, demonstrates how to spot a card skimmer on an ATM, gas pump or other card reader. He also offers advice for keeping your PIN and card information safe
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Eric Vitale, fraud investigation specialist with the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Police Department, demonstrates how to spot a card skimmer on an ATM, gas pump or other card reader. He also offers advice for keeping your PIN and card information safe
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If you bought gas at the Stop ‘n’ Go in Marine within the last three weeks or so, check your credit card and bank statements for fraudulent charges.

Investigators found an internal card skimmer on two of the gas pumps, which criminals can use to access credit card and banking information.

Internal card skimmers are not visible from the outside, Marine Police Chief Chris Singleton said, and the person who put it there would have had to access the inside of the machine to add the skimmer.

“This was 110 percent internal, “Singleton said. “There was no way you could find these until you opened the gas pump.”

Singleton said the police department is working with federal agencies and financial institutions in its investigation.

Anyone with concerns about their information can call the Marine Police Department at 618-887-4326.

The Marine Police Department offered a number of tips to keep banking information safe on its Facebook page., including that consumers could look for the red tape on the gas pumps that shows the machine has not been tampered with.

Other tips include paying with cash inside the store.

Mary Cooley: 618-239-2535; @MaryCooleyBND

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