Technology brings spike in skimmers at state gas pumps

Crooks go wireless to access your card

The number of credit card skimmers found at Florida’s gas stations is exploding as criminals are emboldened by new technology that makes it even easier to steal credit card information from unsuspecting motorists.

New devices found on the streets include wireless Bluetooth technology that allows data to be collected without accessing skimmers, or skimmers inserted right into the credit card slot.

Gas stations have been also slow to adopt higher security chip credit cards because of the high cost of installing the hardware. Often, entire gas dispensers need to be replaced or expensive retrofits are required. Visa extended its deadline from 2017 to 2020 for gas stations to use chip credit cards without bearing liability.

The current skimmer technology would not work

with chips, but that’s not a guarantee that scammers won’t develop tech for that.

The evolving technology is one of the reasons the number of credit card skimmers found at Florida gas stations tripled in 2017 compared with the year before, according to data from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The 613 skimmers recovered were the most in the state’s history, seven years after the fraud-aiding devices first emerged.

About 260 stations in South Florida have been found with skimmers in 2017.

One of the most recent was last week at a Sunoco station in Lantana. In July, a vigilant gas station clerk helped police nab two men trying to install a credit card skimmer on a gas pump in Delray.

Pembroke Pines and Davie are among the police departments who say the problem is on the rise, particularly at gas stations. The Broward Sheriff’s Office urges people to park closest to where the gas station attendant is and to use a credit card, not a debit card.

In September, EunisesLlorca Menses of Naples was convicted of using Bluetooth-enabled skimmers at gas stations in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia. Menses, along with a Houston man, are awaiting sentencing on federal charges that carry up to 30 years in prison. When the two were arrested in Alabama police also found dozens of fake credit cards loaded with real credit card numbers.

Industry officials said the data collecting devices are so easy to acquire and the payout so big that the problem is growing fast.

“In the last few years there has been a heightened number of incidents,” said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “It’s a serious issue because no one wants to be associated with a credit card skimmer found at their business.”

Data breaches and credit card numbers continue to be a problem even with increased card security. Equifax, Uber, Arby’s, KMart and dozens of other companies reported data breaches in 2017 that impacted millions of customers.

But smaller breaches continue to be a problem, and gas pumps have become a popular target for data thieves because the skimmers can be installed away from the prying eyes of employees.

Credit card skimmers are small devices illegally installed on gas dispensers, ATMs and kiosks that pull credit card numbers or other data. They can be installed on the exterior of machines over existing card slots. Along with fake pin pads, some skimmers are capable of getting both credit or debit card numbers and PINs. Data thieves also break into gasoline dispensing machines and install skimmers inside to collect data as it’s passed between the credit card reader and data terminal.

The current skimmer technology would not work with chipped credit cards, but that’s not a guarantee that scammers won’t develop tech for that.

In the past, perpetrators would return and remove the devices or collect the data in person. But the newer devices are making it easier to collect the hardware without drawing much attention or even without approaching the gas dispenser.

“These deep insert skimming devices are unlikely to be affected by most active anti-skimming jamming solutions,” said Owen Wild, security marketing director for kiosk and ATM maker NCR Corp. “They are also unlikely to be detected by most fraudulent device detection solutions. ”

Skimming operations are almost always tied to organized criminal activities, Lenard said, and often associated with foreign groups.

But there are only a handful of convictions. The Florida Attorney General’s office is currently pursuing three cases against 13 individuals in card-skimming related cases.Florida may be a bigger target for card skimmers because of yearround warm weather, Lenard said.

“People that skim at the pump tend to work seasonally,” Lenard said. “It will peak in the warmer states in winter months and then they will move back north.”