Sedona AZ (August 12, 2016) – Coming to gas pumps near you soon?
Criminals are upping the stakes when it comes to stealing your credit and debit card information at gas pumps. The state has found more skimmers so far this month than it found in all of last year.
Between August 1 and August 12, 2016, there were twelve skimmers found while last year’s total was eleven. Not only are more skimmers turning up, the criminals are making it more difficult to find the devices inside the pumps.
“We are finding the skimmers attached to the circuit boards which are harder for technicians and criminals to reach,” said Mark Killian, director of the Department of Agriculture. “These are brazen criminals working in fairly public places that are usually well lit. We need to put them out of business in Arizona.”
| date | cross streets | city | # found |
| 1/05/2016 | 67th Ave. and West Beardsley | Glendale | 1 |
| 1/25/2016 | East Andy Divine and Byrd Ave. | Kingman | 1 |
| 1/25/2016 | West Beale and Lampton | Kingman | 1 |
| 1/25/2016 | Rt 66 and I 40 | Kingman | 1 |
| 1/29/2016 | West Bell and Ave. of the Arts | Surprise | 1 |
| 2/01/2016 | E. Mckellips and Scottsdale Rd. | Tempe | 2 |
| 2/05/2016 | Thomas and Scottsdale Rd. | Tempe | 1 |
| 2/05/2016 | Mckellips and Hayden | Scottsdale | 1 |
| 3/08/2016 | West Beal and Alma Ave. | Kingman | 2 |
| 4/07/2016 | Chaparral and North Granite Reef | Scottsdale | 1 |
| 5/06/2016 | Sunshine Blvd. and W. MilliganRd. | Eloy | 1 |
| 5/09/2016 | Chandler Blvd. and 48th St. | Phoenix | 1 |
| 5/12/2016 | W. Ina Rd. and I-10 | Tucson | 8 |
| 5/25/2016 | I 17 and Bethany Home Road | Phoenix | 1 |
| 5/25/2016 | 26th St. and Araby Rd. | Yuma | 1 |
| 6/07/2016 | 26th St. and Araby Rd. | Yuma | 1 |
| 6/08/2016 | Osborn and N. Scottsdale Rd. | Scottsdale | 1 |
| 6/29/2016 | Gila Ridge Rd. and S Avenue 3 E. | Yuma | 1 |
| 7/13/2016 | N US Hwy. 93 | Kingman | 1 |
| 8/01/2016 | 27th Ave. and Glendale Ave. | Phoenix | 4 |
| 8/02/2016 | 35th Ave. and Glendale Ave. | Phoenix | 2 |
| 8/02/2016 | 51st Ave. and Glendale Ave. | Glendale | 1 |
| 8/05/2016 | Warner Rd. and N Illinois st. | Tempe | 1 |
| 8/11/2016 | S. Rural Rd. and E. Colgate Dr. | Tempe | 2 |
| 8/12/2016 | 26th St. and Araby Rd. | Yuma | 1 |
| 8/12/2016 | W. Guadalupe Rd. and S. Kyrene Rd. | Tempe | 1 |
So far in August, the Department has reports of skimmers in Tempe, Glendale, Phoenix and Yuma and is working vigilantly to investigate each claim. Since January 1, 2016, forty skimmers have been found around the state. In response to the increasing number of crimes, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a law this year to increase the penalty when criminals use skimmers for financial gain (Class 6 Felony to Class 5 Felony).
Skimmers are devices that criminals install to steal your customers’ debit and credit card information to make fraudulent cards. History shows that many times criminals will install skimmers at several fueling stations within a few miles of each other. The Department notifies nearby stations of the discoveries, and often sends inspectors out to check pumps.
“The best thing consumers can do is to talk to the gas station about what security it uses for the pumps,” said Michelle Wilson, Association Director for the Division of Weights and Measures. “People can always pay with cash to protect their credit and debit accounts. If you’re ever concerned about someone stealing your account information, contact your bank or the company that issued your credit card.”
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@All Readers at The Eye:
OneAZ Credit Union first warned me about this risk to my bank account.
see this link to learn more about gas-pump skimmers:
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/gas-station-card-skimmers-1282.php
Here’s how I dealt with it. I opened up an additional debit card only account. I only keep $100 in it. I usually buy nearly that amount of gas. I WAIT a couple of days to replenish the account and I do it online. I don’t use that account’s debit card for anything other than gasoline purchases. This way, if the crook with the skimmer reads my account number, the gasoline I just bought will have wiped out almost all my account balance before the crook’s debit can be processed and there won’t be much money in it. Notice in the article that it mentions that sometimes these crooks are actually employees of your gas station.
JRN
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/buying/beware-the-flood-of-flood-cars/ar-BBvJTQa?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
Noticed that your site now uses https. Why change?
@Sue Beck,
Hi Sue. You have a talent for noticing small details. Https, as opposed to http, reflects use of an anti-tracking program to prevent tracking of a first user’s site visitation histories and cookies. So, even though it has nothing to do with use of a particular weblink embedded in a message opened by a third party it still shows up when copied.
JRN
@Sue Beck,
HTTP is currently the primary unsecured protocol for browsing applications used on computers while HTTPS is an encrypted protocol for browsing. I no longer want anybody tracking my browsing preferences.
JRN