Someone has been placing skimmers on gas pumps to illegally harvest customers’ debit or credit card and PIN numbers and use them to make fraudulent purchases, police say.
“A lot of people have noticed charges in California,” Kim Kapp, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department, said Friday.
Dean Zack, who lives in the Rose Village neighborhood, called The Columbian to say he checked his account Friday and noticed three unauthorized purchases made using his debit card numbers in North Hollywood, Burlingame and Glendale, Calif.
Two other unauthorized charges had been made in California earlier this month, for $50 and $28.
“They are not taking big amounts,” Zack said.
Zack said he called his bank and was told several other such thefts had occurred. His bank is investigating and he’ll likely be reimbursed for the charges, he said. His account number has been changed.
He thinks the thieves guessed his ZIP code, which must be entered at automatic pumps, by figuring he lives near the stations where he fueled up.
Zack said it’s fortunate he watches his accounts closely or he might not have noticed the fraudulent charges.
As a result of several such reports, Kapp said police are advising folks to either pay cash for gas or take their card inside the store, instead of using it at the pump where skimmers may be attached.
Victims should call their banks and also notify police so officers can judge the extent of the problem, Kapp said.
In early December, police seized an illegal card skimmer that an employee found plugged into the wiring of a gas pump at the 7-Eleven store at 5600 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., according to this newspaper’s files.
The skimmer had been installed inside the pump and wasn’t visible to customers, police said.
Police said then that these types of devices were becoming more common.
Merchants with gas pumps, as well as banks with ATM machines and other retail merchants, should be diligent in checking card-reading machines that might be tapped, police said.
Pocket sized skimmers have been sold on the Internet for years, and restaurant employees in some areas also have been known to skim their customers’ credit cards. As a result, police have advised people to carry their card to the pay counter themselves, rather than trusting servers to take it from their table.
Another good idea to protect your money: Have your card company change your account numbers now and then.
John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.
