Catching many of these criminals has proven rather difficult as well. While many of them use their own electronic card readers, where they have to return to the station to retrieve their equipment, other more advanced thieves are beginning to utilize a bluetooth function.
“If thieves know how to compromise [magnetic stripe technology], that’s where they will go. It’s lucrative—people wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t,” Eva Velasquez, CEO ofIdentity Theft Resource Center, described to reporters.
However, there are methods that people can employ to prevent themselves from being victimized by such criminals. Police suggest that, when paying for gas with a credit card, customers go into the building to pay an actual attendant or employee.
The crime of skimming has become ubiquitous. “The devices are being found at small merchants, large merchants, urban, rural, new and old convenience stores—so nobody is exempt,” Kara Gunderson, a Citgo Corporation employee, pointed out.
Now authorities are urging gas stations to take every possible precaution to protect their customers. This can be as simple as adding security or other employees to a station, or installing brighter lights and surveillance cameras. They’re hoping that by using these methods, such crime trends will be stopped.
How sad that people want to victimize others to make a few extra bucks. Warning your friends and family of these trends could help save their valuables, and potentially, even their lives!
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