Skimming device found on gas pump

[Trapper]

Wanted to give you folks a heads up... Check your bank and credit accounts if you went here.


NEWS RELEASE
DELAWARE STATE POLICE
Superintendent Colonel Nathaniel McQueen Jr.

Presented by Public Information Officer Cpl/1 John Day
P.O. Box 430| Dover, DE 19903 | Cell: 302.632.0328 | john.day@state.de.us

DSP News Release: Skimming Devices Found in New Castle Gas Pumps

Location:
Hess, 506 North DuPont Highway, New Castle, DE

Date of Occurrence:
Friday, August 9, 2013

Resume:
New Castle – Two skimming devices were located in gas pumps at the Hess gas station, 506 North DuPont Highway, this morning.

Inspectors from the Weights and Measures Section of the Delaware Department of Agriculture located the devices during an inspection of the fuel pumps. The inspectors notified Troopers, who arrived on scene and removed the devices.

The two skimming devices were entirely contained within the interior of the payment mechanism of the pumps. These devices are designed to record information from credit cards used at the pumps. It is not known if these two devices were successfully used to steal credit card information.

If anyone has any information in reference to this incident, they are asked to contact the Troop 2 Financial Crimes Unit at 302-834-2630 extension 212, or by utilizing the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Application available to download at: http://www.delaware.gov/apps/. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."

Released: 080913 1355

[TwistedKarma]

  Inside, sounds just like that,  a  Inside job.

[Lumspond]

Some info on spotting skimmers.
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/sheriff/general/ATM%20Skimming.pdf

[MarkB]

About an inside job - it's a question of the keys.  How many are there for those pumps and who has them.  Also, are there master keys that open multiple pumps, where are those and how easy are they duplicated?  If there are master keys, how many pumps do they open?

Sloppy key control causes many problems like this.

[poster formerly know as Silverbullet]

There is a video out about something called sliding crooks are doing to women as well

http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/landscapers-equipment-stolen-at-gas-station/nZJFD/

The article is not about as much how it is effecting women.

Basically what is happening is a thug working on pairs or more drives up by a car while the woman is fooling with the pump and crawls down by the passenger side door opens the door if unlocked and grabs the purse before the lady knows what is going on.

Here is the video

http://www.king5.com/news/consumer/218746321.html

People are pathetic at times. Shows you need to be aware of your surroundings. My wife had a friend in the Church choir with her that had her purse stolen while they were at church during choir practice.

is nothing sacred anymore?

[SturmRugerSR9]

I amazes me that in times like this, women will leave their purses/wallets in a car at all. I have seen this time after time. This is asking to be burned. Leaving a car unlocked and unattended is a big mistake. It only takes a few seconds to steal a purse from a car.
even if you are near by. It only takes seconds. The damage can take days, weeks and months to repair. Sometimes years.

Stop this air-headed habit. You to guys!

[oldgraygeek]

Hundreds of millions of lines of credit card information have been stolen around the world... so many that most of the card numbers stolen will never be used fraudulently.
Doing computer security for a living, here are my recommendations:
--Never use a debit card for anything except accessing your bank's ATM. If someone puts a fraudulent charge on your credit card, it's only that: a debt that you can successfully dispute. If someone cleans out your checking account, it's cleaned out until/unless the bank decides to give you the money back... meanwhile, checks and payments bounce.
--Watch your accounts online: don't wait for the statements. If you see a fraudulent charge on your account the day after it happens, you might prevent quite a few more... if you don't notice anything until the paper statement shows up, you might have a lot more disputin' to do. (I can count on my wife asking me questions like "Did you spend seven bucks at an Eddie Bauer in Lancaster PA?" within a few days after I spend it).
--Keep receipts for a month or so. If you make a habit of keeping the receipt for every transaction bigger than a vending machine Pepsi, it's a lot easier to be sure that a charge is or isn't legit.
--Never believe anyone who contacts you, by any means, about any financial matter. Every unexpected phone call/Email/popup on your screen/knock on the door, whether they claim your PC has a virus or they need to "verify your account information, is a scam no matter what the caller ID/return Email/pamphlet says.

And, here's the recommendation that costs money:
--Do all your online banking/credit card management on a secure platform like a Mac, iPad, or iPhone. I fix PCs for a living, and I could type horror stories all day about compromised Windows machines leading to identity theft. Macs rarely catch malware; iPads almost NEVER do. PCs and Android phones/tablets are not secure, and they cannot be made secure.

[Newlife503]

Good info OGG thanks!

[MarkB]

I think it is in one of the Lifelock commercials that shows a man taking a skimmer out of a gas pump after a lady uses the pump.

[MarkB]

Hey OGG,

How secure are the Speedpasses from Exxon/Mobil?  Does the information go through the same path in the pump and can the data be read?

[Trapper]

I plan on using cash only in the future!!!

[Adrenolin]

OGG.. Great post. Something to add is that if you have a credit card use it instead of your bank debit card. Think Credit is Good & Debit is Bad! As OGG stated if you use your debit card and someone steals your information then cleans out your bank account.... It's Gone! Rarely will a bank simply give you back the cash stolen because it was just that.. Cash stolen. It isn't protected. I read up on it a few years ago and if YOU catch something in the first 1-3 days you can file a claim but its a long drawn out process where you don't see your money until its done. Even then the banks are only responsible to put back a percentage of what was stolen and that percentage goes down each of the days. After 4 or maybe 5 days it was zero you get back.

Your money in the bank is only protected and insured if the bank is robbed either physically or electronically. If someone gains access to your personal account info and steals your money it is NOT protected or insured.

Now if someone steals your credit card info, charges $0.99 or $20k or $100k on it you are protected by the national Credit Card Act and these days most card companies, VISA, Discover, MC, etc will all verse the charges right away if you call into their fraud departments. They then cancel the card and ship out a replacement.. overnight if you need. Once reversed they start their investigation and 95% of the time you'll never even hear back from them.

I use Discover here in the US for 98% of my purchases with Visa/MC maybe 1.5% and occasionally cash but its rare. Charges are paid off when the bill is due. Over the years I've been directly contacted by Discover well over a dozen times about charges that got flagged and sure enough when asked I hadn't a clue. They issue new cards and allow me to continue using the current card if needed until the replacement arrives. If you see something on your statement you didn't buy/order it's a simple call into their fraud department and its removed.

I spend quite a bit of time in Canada where I use a Visa since Discover is not up there in many places plus it helps my credit line up there as well. Up North most people use Debit and because of the debit fraud that's starting to change. I know many people who have lost cash from their bank accounts due to Debit theft and while most have only lost relatively small sums (less hen a few grand) I know of 2 people who lost over 20k that they will never see again.

Credit is dangerous if you are erresponsible but if you are responsible it IS the safest way to conduct any transaction today.

[Adrenolin]

I plan on using cash only in the future!!!

Cash is great however remember that most people use their debit cards to draw the cash. Even from the branch machines you can get hit. If you're going to use cash go into the bank to a teller for it. Remember to that if your cash is stolen it to is gone. Also, paying for large ticket item like major appliances or weekly, bi-weekly or month grocery runs requires large amount of cash on hand.

Using a credit card keeps you from having to have large amount of cash on hand. It's safer in case of theft since credit card transactions and direct withdrawals are protected. It'll also, with responsible management, help build your credit which face it, everyone needs credit these days.

[Trapper]

I plan on using cash only in the future!!!

Cash is great however remember that most people use their debit cards to draw the cash. Even from the branch machines you can get hit. If you're going to use cash go into the bank to a teller for it. Remember to that if your cash is stolen it to is gone. Also, paying for large ticket item like major appliances or weekly, bi-weekly or month grocery runs requires large amount of cash on hand.

Using a credit card keeps you from having to have large amount of cash on hand. It's safer in case of theft since credit card transactions and direct withdrawals are protected. It'll also, with responsible management, help build your credit which face it, everyone needs credit these days.

Very true about using credit and going inside of the bank to get cash.
I was speaking about using cash at the gas stations.

We should all be as aware of our financial security, as we are our personal security.

[oldgraygeek]

Hey OGG,

How secure are the Speedpasses from Exxon/Mobil?  Does the information go through the same path in the pump and can the data be read?

It's different data. When you use a SpeedPass, ExxonMobil identifies the device, then connects it to your credit card information in their servers somewhere else. Your CC number is not transmitted or used at the gas station.

The (somewhat lesser) risks there are:
a) ExxonMobil could get hacked, and the CC info for SpeedPass customers could be stolen
b) Someone near the pump (or just near you or your car keys) could steal the electronic codes that identify the SpeedPass, clone it, and use it elsewhere.

It's marginally better than using your credit card directly, and much better than swiping your debit card.