New Credit Card Skimming Scam Hits RB, PQ Gas Stations

San Diego police say a new credit card scam—where card skimmers are hidden inside of gas pump panels—has hit people in Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Peñasquitos, including a police detective.

The scammers are "trying to be as discreet as possible" by opening up the panels of gas pumps farthest away from the station stores, installing the credit card skimmers inside where no one can see them and then removing the devices before they are detected, said Officer Susan Steffen, community relations officer for the San Diego Police Department's Northeastern Division.

So far, detectives have identified two local gas stations where the panel scam is believed to have happened: a Shell in the 16900 block of West Bernardo Drive, and a Mobil station at 9370 Paseo Montalban.

It was at the latter station, which is just around the corner from the Northeastern Division's headquarters, that one of the department's detectives is thought to have had his credit card number stolen through this new skimming scam, Steffen said.

The detective, like numerous other customers at that station, received a fraud alert notification from his bank after a $500 charge was made to his debit card in Tennessee, Steffen said.

It's not entirely clear when the devices were installed and removed at the locations, she said. This scam is particularly difficult to ward against because, unlike in other skimming cases, the devices are placed out of sight.

In typical cases, an extra device is attached to the outside of the panel. Those devices tend to blend in with the regular credit card attachments, and are often unnoticed by average customers.

Steffen said detectives first became aware of the latest scam when the owner of the Shell station happened to open the panel, which requires a key, and noticed the device. They soon connected that incident with reports of skimming at the Mobil station, she said.

To be safe, Steffen said, customers may want to go inside of the station stores to pay for their gas or use credit cards instead of debit cards at the pump.