Three Los Angeles, Calif. men have been charged with 43 counts of felony identity theft and conspiracy after stealing nearly $160,000 from about 200 people.
The trio used skimmers to obtain ATM and credit card numbers at gas pumps, many of which were in the Sacramento area. According to police reports, the men traveled in a Cadillac Escalade to gas stations throughout Northern California between November 209 and February 2010. Using keys, they unlocked the pumps and inserted a tiny electronic device, which recorded the card numbers, as well as the personal identification numbers. The data was used to create phony cards and withdraw funds from the victims’ accounts.
Investigators found seven skimming devices, including one that stole $43,000 from customers. The victims were reimbursed by their banks.
Portable card readers, or skimmers, make it possible for anyone to copy the information stored on a card’s magnetic stripe. This information is not encrypted, so it’s easy to steal. Once a card is run through the skimmer, the information is all there, in plain text, and it’s very easy to imprint that data on another magnetic strip and use it.
Skimmers are designed to slip over the real card reader, and can be hard to spot. They work especially well at gas pumps because most of us just want to pay and be on our way; we don’t take the time to examine the pump.
Thieves get your PIN number by hiding a little camera in the skimmer or on the pump that records your fingers as you type in the number. There are also fake keypads that slide over the real keypad that can transmit the PIN as you enter it.
So if these skimmers are hard to spot and it’s easy-pickings for thieves, what can consumers do to protect themselves?
First of all, it would be wise to not use your debit card at a gas station pump because you can’t be sure whether it’s been tampered with. Debit cards do not offer the same fraud protection as credit cards. If a crook snags your credit card number and uses it to make purchases, you don’t owe anything while it’s being investigated. But if he gets your ATM number, he can empty your bank account.
So the best way to pay at the pump is with a credit card. If you want to use your debit card, go inside the store and pay or choose the credit option at the pump.
If you suspect there’s something wrong with a pump, don’t use it and alert the store manager.
