ALBANY. N.Y. – New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball announced last week the results of a first-ever, statewide effort to crack down on illegal credit and debit card skimmers at gas pumps. During its inspection sweep in November, members of state and municipal weights and measures bureaus found six skimmers installed in gas pumps, all of which were turned over to local police for investigation.
“Many New Yorkers have been saved from the damage caused by the theft of their personal information as a result of this successful inspection sweep,” Ball said in a statement. “This is just the beginning of our efforts to help protect New Yorkers. Now that our inspectors and municipal partners are trained, we will make checking for skimmers a part of our everyday routine, now…and year-round.”
The Department launched this effort after developing and providing training to county weights and measures officials to spot skimming devices in their communities. In total, state and county inspectors checked 10,001 gas pumps, nearly 25% of all dispensers in the state, from November 2 through 25, which marked the start of the traditional Thanksgiving travel season. They found skimmers inside six dispensers in Niagara, Monroe, Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties, and New York City.
The discoveries in Niagara and Monroe counties were made prior to the start of the November sweep, as inspectors developed and tested their training. A sweep by local police after the discovery in Monroe County turned up four more skimmers. All incidents discovered by inspectors were immediately referred to local police, and the findings were also shared with the New York State Police and the U.S. Secret Service.
“Cooperation and partnerships such as these enhance our collective ability to safeguard the financial payment systems utilized by New York State merchants,” said Resident Agent in Charge Jeff Wood of the White Plains Resident Office.
All six skimmers were internal devices connected to the wiring of the card reader inside the gas pump to intercept and store credit card data until downloaded by the criminals.
In early December, NACS and Conexxus jointly developed and published an online resource to offer context and tips to mitigate the risk of skimming at stores. The online resource, Skimming and Payments Security, provides resources and best practices for retailers to help reduce the likelihood of skimming at their stores.
On December 17, NACS and Conexxus also hosted a free webinar that highlighted the processes and tools available to protect dispenser terminals from intrusion and skimmers. The webinar was conducted by representatives from Gilbarco Veeder-Root, Wayne Fueling Systems and the NACS/Conexxus We Care program.