Discovered in St. Rose, Des Allemands
When a fourth of the card skimmers found in Louisiana were recently analyzed, it revealed they held personal information from at least 2,000 bank cards, representing an estimated $1 million in potential fraud.
“The skimmers found represent only about half of the actual skimmers suspected out there,” said Mike Strain, commissioner of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) that oversees gas stations in the state.
“Once they’re there, the criminals return to collect them. You have to catch them when the skimmer is in the machine.”Last Thursday’s discovery of this device at a St. Rose RaceTrac brought the escalating threat of identity theft much closer to home.
It was discovered after a fellow employee from Kenner called to also report one was found at that location, according to St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes.
Strain also reported another one was found in Lafayette on Monday.
A skimmer records information stolen from a card’s magnetic stripe, which Strain said is stored until the one who installed it returns to collect it. The information can be placed on a blank card and used in transactions.As of Tuesday, he said the U.S. Secret Service had found skimmers in 47 parishes.
In September, LDAF teamed up with the Secret Service when the device was found in a Baton Rouge gas station.
When the device was found in St. Rose, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office removed it and warned RaceTrac customers to check their bank accounts for suspicious activity.
Yoes said a similar device was found on a gas pump in Des Allemands a few months ago. Both incidents are under investigation.
Strain said LDAF’s crackdown on skimmers followed police finding nearly 100 of these devices in Florida gas stations. In some cases, owners have installed locks on pumps or stations. LDAF also is working with a company that is designing the next generation of fuel pumps to make them inaccessible to people installing skimmers.
I-10, I-49 and I-20 have been hot spots for this activity, but it’s spreading to more remote areas.
Camera video revealed the identity of one of these individuals in Jefferson Parish that led to an arrest, Strain said. Also, data found on a skimmer can be tied to an individual, which has resulted in six federal arrests.
RaceTrac spokeswoman Karissa Bursch said RaceTracs in Louisiana have advanced EMV technology installed at each ATM that verifies each card via a chip. She added it is consistent with security best practices in the industry.
But tech experts are already warning about “chip-card shimmers” that can clone information as easily as skimmers, which was the reason consumers were given chipped cards.
The Sheriff’s Office offers tips on what consumers can do to avoid being “skimmed.”
• Be alert for an ATM that looks a little loose or has scratches or sticky tape residue, which could suggest thieves attached a false front to the ATM with tape.
• A skimming device typically has a pin-sized hole camera mounted under the top of the ATM so cover the keys while typing a PIN. Contact the financial institution if such a hole is spotted on the ATM.
• Pay close attention to bank accounts and suspicious activity. Federal laws offer some protection when a bank account is skimmed, but it’s limited. Most banks require account holders notify the bank promptly after a fraudulent transaction, which means the longer it takes to report this the less likely losses will be covered.
• Use ATMs inside banks instead of outside ones that are easily accessible to skimmers.
• Be watchful of surroundings at ATMs because thieves have been known to prevent an ATM from working so someone nearby can pretend to intervene and take a PIN.
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