Credit/Debit Card Skimmers Located in Local Fuel Pumps

On Friday February 5, 2016 at approximately 4:15 pm, Officer L Kvittem of the San Angelo Police Dept. was sent to a call at the Star Stop convenience store located at 2902 N Bryant Blvd. A credit/debit card skimmer was located inside one of the fuel pumps by a contracted employee.  A credit/debit card skimmer is a device connected directly to a credit/debit card payment terminal that stores information from the card’s magnetic strip to be retrieved by a criminal to make cloned credit/debit cards or access bank accounts, said Sgt. Solsbery, public information officer for SAPD.

After the skimmer was located, Solsbery said other Start Stop stores were checked and skimmers were located at the Star Stop stores located at 705 N Main and 107 S Abe.  All of the skimmers were connected directly to the credit/debit card reader inside the fuel pump and would not have been noticeable to a customer using the fuel pumps.

The SAPD Criminal Investigation Division is conducting an investigation to identify who placed the skimmers inside the fuel pumps, stated Solsbery. SAPD officials are also in the process of making contact with all other convenience stores in town to have their fuel pumps checked for skimmers.  So far, the Star Stop stores at 2902 N. Bryant, 705 N. Main, and 107 S. Abe are the only stores where skimmers have been discovered.

SAPD officials are asking citizens who have purchased fuel at the fuel pumps from any of these stores to monitor their bank accounts and credit card transactions for fraudulent transactions. If fraudulent transactions are detected, immediately contact your bank or credit card company to report the transaction and cancel your cards.  An online police report should also be made through the San Angelo Police Department’s website for Debit/Credit Card Abuse. Citizens can access online reporting by going to www.sanangelopolice.org and clicking on report a crime under the Programs & Services tab.  The San Angelo Police Department also encourages citizens to click on Fraud and Scams under the Safety tab of the San Angelo Police Department website to learn more about identity theft, scams, and learn what steps to take if you believe you are the victim of a scam or identity theft.

If anyone has any information about the skimmers being placed in the fuel pumps, please contact the investigator for this case, Detective L Dye, at 325-657-4332. You may also tip online at http://bit.ly/SAPDTips247 , via text: text TIP SAPD to 888777 and follow the prompts, or by phone at 1-855-TIPS-247.