Gas pump ‘skimmer scam’ hits Oregon

Addone more item for weights and measures inspectors with the Oregon Department ofAgriculture to look for while examining motor fuel dispensers around the state.

Devices known asskimmers are being used by scam artists across the country tosteal personal information from credit cards used at gas pumps. The crime hascome to Oregon and a recent arrest of three people in Beaverton has caughttheattention of ODA.

“Aspart of our routine inspections, we have been trained to look for these typesof skimming devices while we inspect gas pumps for accuracy and other equipmentfunctions,” says Josh Nelson, field supervisorof ODA’s Weights and MeasuresProgram. “Since we are inspecting these facilities already, we are now lookingfor these devices. Our staff knows what they look like and we have a protocolin place on what to do if ourinspectors find one of these skimmers.”

Gasolinedealers are just as anxious as anyone to protect customers and stop thesecrooks from gaining access to the credit or debit card information. Gas stationowners and their employees are caught by surprisewhen they fall victim toskimmers.

Perpetrators stealthily place the device into the housing unit of agas pump just long enough to illegally gain a lot of information beforeremoving them without being seen.

Experts sayit takes as little as 10 secondsfor a criminal to gain access to the unit that houses the card reader and placethe skimmer to intercept scanned data each time a card is inserted at the pump.

StevenHarrington, who manages ODA’s Weights and Measures Program, explains whathappens once the illegal device is in place.

“Whenthe attendant inserts a credit or debit card into the gas pump, the magneticstrip on the card is read and information is transmitted to the bank to chargea person’s account for the fuel purchase. Theskimmer intercepts and makes acopy of that information and stores it on the device itself.

“After severalswipes of cards have occurred, somebody will come back and retrieve the devicealong with all the cardinformation that has been captured. That informationmay be sold to someone else for fraudulent purposes, or sometimes fraudulentcards are made with that information and used to purchase items.”

Dependingon the style of gas pump, it can be relatively easy to get into the unit andsecretly install the skimmer. For certain pumps, a master key can open themall. Copies of that master key have apparentlyfallen into the wrong hands.

Theskimmer looks like a simple device, but the scam is relatively sophisticated.Skimmers can be homemade or they can be purchased online for as little as $100each.

Oregon’sunique status as one of two states without self-service gasoline partiallyprotects gas stations and consumers– but not completely.

“Noself-serve gasoline limits access by someone who would want to open the gaspump and install a skimming device,” says Nelson. “An attendant is more apt tonotice suspicious activity. In other states withself-serve stations, apotential thief has easier access.”

Despitehaving gas stations attended in Oregon, many close late at night, leaving thepumps vulnerable to criminal activity. Other times, thieves will wait to see ifan attendant is busy and not able to pay attentionto the skimmer installation.In any event, the crime is happening in Oregon.

Lastyear, a ring of gas station skimmers along the I-5 corridor resulted inthousands of dollars in purchases before a trio of thieves was arrested.

InSeptember, employees at a McMinnville gas station repeatedlyhad trouble usingthe legitimate card reader on a pump. Police discovered a skimmer had beenattached and had been recording information for three months.

Then earlier thismonth, three Florida residents were arrestedafter Beaverton and Tigarddetectives discovered use of counterfeit credit cards in the area, reportedlymade after information was gleaned from legitimate credit cards used at aspecific gas station. One of the suspectshas been arrested twice for similarcrimes in other states.

A search warrant for the hotel room and vehicle thetrio had been using led to the seizure of a credit card encoder, more than 240re-encoded counterfeit creditand gift cards, skimming devices and gas pumpkeys.

ODAinspectors will start looking for other skimmers with a concentrated effort inWashington County.

“Ourstaff has not yet found any of these devices during an inspection at thispoint, but we are making efforts to canvass the area and help inform gasstation operators on how they can better protect themselves,their businesses,and their customers,” says Nelson. “We are developing pamphlets to hand out tooperators that describe and clearly show what the skimmers look like and alsolist some steps they can take.”

Thesimplest measure is to be diligent and check all equipment at the gas pumpfrequently to make sure nothing is amiss. Other proactive steps that might be abit more expensive include changing out the locks tothe units or installpressure sensitive security seals on the cabinet itself. Employees would thenclearly see if the seal has been broken.

Forthe customer who uses plastic to pay for gasoline purchases, options are a bitmore limited.

“Oncethis device is installed in the cabinet, it’s going to be invisible to theconsumer, they won’t have any knowledge that the skimmer is there,” says Harrington.”It’s really no different than all transactionsusing credit and debit cards.The best thing a consumer can do is be vigilant in watching their transactionstatements and look for any suspicious activities that might indicate you’vebeen a victim of a skimmer.”

Theoutreach and education to gas station owners will continue. ODA will alsoreport any discovery of gas pump skimmers to law enforcement. There is noindication the problem is getting worse in Oregon, butit has arrived andprobably won’t be going away any time soon.

Inthe meantime, ODA inspectors will keep their eyes open.