Illegal Credit Card Readers at Gas Stations

HUMBOLDT, Ca. (KIEM) – An attempt to install illegal credit card skimmers at two different gas station locations in Humboldt County was unsuccessful.

Surveillance video from the night of February 10th, shows two men pulling up to a pump, prey it open and try to install the skimmer, unsuccessfully. It’s just that easy to pull off this type of financial fraud.

In an email from Jeffrey Dolf the Humboldt County Sealer of Weights and Measures, he wants to assure Humboldt County that no skimmers have been found. Staff performed a survey of fuel stations yesterday inspecting pumps for illegal skimmers and no skimmers were found. Station owners are well informed and inspecting their own fuel pumps for any suspicious devices.

As a consumer, when using a card for fuel purchases, use a dispenser that is within the sight of the cashier. Look for broken or missing security seals and always contact law enforcement immediately if your card information has been illegally obtained.

Visa has notified fuel station owners and other retailers that after October of this year, they will no longer cover losses caused by credit card fraud if they have not installed chipped credit card readers which are much more difficult to hack and steal.

According to California Department of Food & Agriculture’s Division of Measurement Standards (DMS) there are about 10,000 gas stations and 200,000 fueling dispensers throughout California. In mid-December 2019, DMS reported that 286 skimmers had been discovered and confiscated during the year to that point.