Credit card thieves installing card skimmers in gas stations!

[thewayne]

"Wave of recent bank-card skimming incidents demonstrate how sophisticated the scam has become. Criminals hid bank card-skimming devices inside gas pumps — in at least one case, even completely replacing the front panel of a pump — in a recent wave of attacks that demonstrate a more sophisticated, insidious method of stealing money from unsuspecting victims filling up their gas tanks. Some 180 gas stations in Utah, from Salt Lake City to Provo, were reportedly found with these skimming devices sitting inside the gas pumps. The scam was first discovered when a California bank's fraud department discovered that multiple bank card victims reporting problems had all used the same gas pump at a 7-Eleven store in Utah."

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/02/23/2236254/Criminals-Hide-Payment-Card-Skimmers-In-Gas-Pumps?art_pos=15

Usually I use the same gas stations, but if thieves are replacing entire front panels, how are you supposed to notice?

Comments

[silveradept]

You're not, and that's how they get you. The entire replacing-a-panel routine is very scary, because it indicates both expertise and time. And the ability to put it back together enough that nobody notices something is off. Fiendish.

[donkey-hokey.livejournal.com]

This is one of the BIG drawbacks to those oh-so-convenient debit cards masquerading as credit cards. After being hit by a similar scam about 8-1/2 years ago, I replaced said debit/credit card with an ATM card, which can be used in almost as many places, but the card number can't ever be used for credit.

I'm also discovering the beauty of those Walmart money cards, aka reloadable credit cards, where the available amount of money is as limited as you want it to be. It helps cut down on impulse buying.