Credit Card Skimmer Found at Bay Area Gas Pump

Tampa Bay area residents are being warned yet again to be wary at gas pumps and keep a close watch on their credit and bank card statements.

St. Petersburg Police announced Thursday a credit card skimming device had been recovered from a pump at the BP Station at 6151 4th St. N. The illegal device was found on pump No. 3 during a routine inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“The pump had last been inspected in March 2015, so it’s possible the device had been in place for some time,” the police department wrote in an email to media.

Skimmers are high-tech devices meant to capture a person’s debit or credit card information when a card is swiped at the pump. Skimmers are generally placed inside gas pump cabinets, making them very difficult for motorists to spot before they pay.

Anyone who purchased gas from the St. Petersburg station between March and Wednesday is being urged to carefully review their credit card or ATM statements for fraudulent activity.

Wednesday’s discovery comes on the heels of a statewide warning issued by the department of agriculture in advance of the long Labor Day weekend. Officials say motorists can protect themselves from this type of theft by:

• Paying inside
• Using cash
• Only using gas pumps that require ZIP code entry because that provides another layer of protection against skimmers
• Checking to make sure the gas pump dispenser cabinet is closed and has not been tampered with
• Feeling the slot where a card is inserted to make sure it is not loose
• Using a pump as close to the front of the store as possible
• If using a debit card, run it as credit instead of using the PIN number

For more information about how to safeguard against credit card fraud, visit the Federal Trade Commission online.

Photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office