Credit Card Numbers Siphoned

[BERIGAN]

Credit Card Numbers Siphoned

By CHERIE JACOBS cjacobs@tampatrib.com

Published: Jan 24, 2004

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TAMPA - State officials are warning motorists to be on guard against a scam in which thieves are stealing credit card information using a device placed inside gas pumps throughout Florida, including the Tampa Bay area.

Officials investigating the scheme wouldn't cite specific incidents in Tampa or elsewhere in Florida, but they warned it is occurring with enough frequency to be of concern.

Credit card companies have told the state that hundreds of people in Florida have fallen victim to the scam, and the fraud has siphoned an average of more than $1,000 a person, said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The scam is also being seen in other states.

``It's insidious because this is one of those things where you can't see anything. A consumer wouldn't know he's being scammed,'' McElroy said. ``You're pumping your gas, you're getting your receipt, and you don't think anything unusual is happening. And then a month later, you find out your card has been used in Cleveland and Baltimore and Washington.''

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement could not comment immediately Friday about the scheme or what it was doing to catch the thieves.

McElroy explained the scam: Some large gasoline companies have pumps accessible by a universal or generic key. Thieves acquire a key and use it to open a pump. Then they install a small device, slightly larger than a cigarette lighter, directly onto the pump's wiring. It cannot be seen when the pump is closed again.

The device steals credit card information, but it does not interrupt the sale or flow of gasoline.

Some time later - a few hours or days - the thieves come back and remove the device and the credit card numbers it has copied. They use the numbers to make counterfeit credit cards and begin making purchases.

McElroy suggested consumers pay with cash to avoid the scam. If you must pay with a credit card, use a pump in the line of sight of the clerk: Thieves are less likely to plant a device in a pump that a clerk can see.

Save your receipts and pay attention to your credit card bills every month, he said.

The thieves have targeted large, busy gas stations, primarily near interstates, McElroy said. It has happened all over the state, including in the Tampa Bay area.

Law enforcement agencies in Florida have not yet found one of the devices, but credit card companies are reporting the crimes. Police in California have found one of the devices.

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