ORLANDO, Fla. – Following a series of sweeps that found more than 100 skimmers on gas pumps throughout Florida, state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced this week that the agency will is working closely with the Florida Petroleum Council (FPC) and Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (FPMCSA) to try to prevent skimming fraud. 

While the agency is not mandating changes (yet), they are offering recommendations for fuel retailers and the industry has launched an awareness campaign for owners and employees.

According to an announcement by Putnam earlier this week, FPC and FPMCSA will urge service station workers to routinely check their pumps. Employees are also being asked to watch for suspicious activity like trucks blocking their view as a diversion, and occupied cars parked nearby for long periods of time, where the person may be trying to remotely access a skimmer's collected info. They also warn to watch for signs of tampering like torn security tape.

Many service stations in the state have already taken proactive steps by adding padlocks in addition to the universal keys that open the pumps as well as utilizing strips of high-tech tape on the pumps, which, if broken – warn customers (and employees) of a possible problem.

Putnam has vowed that the state will use "every weapon" in its arsenal to protect Florida's consumers and visitors from identity theft occurring at gas pumps.

Industry leaders are also working on a more technologically advanced way to combat skimming, for example credit-card readers that encrypt data. So when someone installs a skimmer device, the information comes back as scrambled numbers. That technology is still a few years away from implementation at gas stations.

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