ARIZONA – Skimming remains a top concern for gasoline station owners, as thieves increasingly turn to this method to steal credit and debit card data, ABC News reports. The skimmer devices are becoming more sophisticated and smaller, making it harder for gasoline station operators to spot them.
Skimming is estimated to cost consumers billions of dollars a year. While gasoline station and convenience store robberies are on the decline, skimming is on the rise, ABC News reports. The skimmers are usually hidden very well, making detection by a causal glance unlikely, said Ahmad Motlagh, who owns a Shell gasoline station in Arizona. “The one I found looked like a little matchbox and was stuck to the side on the inside of the card reader panel.”
The U.S. Secret Service has been working on skimming cases across the country. Steve Scarince with the Secret Service told ABC News that the agency is working with police departments, gasoline station owners and even former skimmers who were caught by the Secret Service.
One such reformed criminal is now helping the Secret Service train its agents to spot and recover skimmers. “Gas station skimming is one of the easiest and best ways of doing it because it's hidden. It only takes seconds to open it up and put it in there,” said Dan DeFelippi, who used to install card skimmers. “It’s very easy and it’s a lot of money.”
A companion scheme to skimming is using the stolen card numbers to purchase large quantities of gasoline—usually from the same station pumps in which the skimmers were installed. The essentially stolen gasoline is then resold. The Secret Service estimates that scheme brings in between $8 million to $10 million annually.
The WeCare decal is a tamper-evident label that can help retailers identify potential security breaches if skimming devices are inserted at fuel dispensers or other unattended PIN-entry devices. The labels can also help retailers address some of the PCI compliance mandates that are now required.
The security labels are to be used on fuel dispensers near the credit/debit card transaction area. If the label is lifted to insert a skimming device, a "void" message appears on the label, providing a visual alert to store employees so that additional action can be taken. Because the labels clearly indicate that they are to prevent tampering, the labels help assure customers that their data is secure, and discourage criminals targeting the store.
Protect your business and your customers — order the WeCare decals for your stores today.