ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Fuel dispensers have become one of many targets for thieves looking to steal credit and debit card information by “skimming,” an aggressive tactic used to illegally obtain consumer card data for fraudulent purposes. How real is the threat, and what can convenience stores do to minimize it?

Gray Taylor, ?executive director at Conexxus, is the featured guest on the latest NACS Convenience Matters podcast, which discusses what is being done to protect both retailers and consumers from skimming. The podcast can be downloaded on iTunes by searching for Convenience Matters. It also is available at www.nacsonline.com/podcasts.

Taylor shared some of the basics that retailers need to know about skimming, a topic featured in the current issue of NACS Magazine, “Secure Your Pump.”

“Since 2008, NACS and Conexxus have offered convenience and fuel retailers the resources and tools they need to proactively initiate and maintain effective payment security procedures that help reduce the occurrence of skimming. This podcast is one more resource for retailers,” said podcast host Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives.

NACS has an online resource on Skimming and Payments Security. Lenard also wrote about skimming in the February 2016 NACS Magazine column, “From the Top.”