The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 03:04 PM
Blount County Sheriff's County Warning People To Lookout For "Gas Pump Skimmers"
According to the Sheriff's office, a skimming device was found at a local gas station on a pump on Tuesday. Deputies are working with U.S. Secret Service on the investigation, and deputies will be checking gas pumps throughout the county during their patrols.
According to the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs, there's two types of scams at the gas pump: "skimmers" and "shimmers." Skimmers target a card's magnetic strip and are found outside of the card reader. Shimmers, however, target the chip found in chip cards and is almost undetectable from the outside because it's so small and located inside the card reader.
The department offers the following tips to avoid becoming the victim of a skimmer or shimmer:
- If there is a skimmer in place, a wiggle of the card reader should dislodge the skimmer.
- If a skimmer is found or suspected, notify the cashier, or operating company if it’s an ATM, and report it to the local police.
- Regularly check bank statements and online accounts for fraudulent charges and report those to the bank or credit card company.
- Make sure the gas pump panel is closed and doesn’t show signs of tampering. Many stations now put security seals over the cabinet panel. This is part of a voluntary program by the industry to thwart gas pump tampering. If the pump panel is opened, the label will read "void," which means the machine has been tampered with.