Skimmer Found On St. Pete Gas Pump

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The Thursday morning discovery of a skimmer on a gas pump in St. Petersburg has police urging folks to check their credit and debit card accounts for fraudulent charges.

According to police, the skimmer was found on a pump at the 3801 66th St. N. Shell gas station around 9 a.m. June 22. A customer alerted station employees to a potential problem when he noticed his rewards card wasn’t working.

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“The gas station attendant checked and discovered the security tape had been tampered with and a skimming device had been placed inside the pump,” the agency wrote in an email to media.

Investigators believe the skimmer was placed between 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 21, and 8:49 a.m. June 22. Anyone who used the pumps at the Shell station is urged to check their bank accounts.

Skimmers are electronic devices that are placed on gas pumps to allow thieves to record credit and debit card information. Skimmers are generally placed inside the gas pump cabinets, making them very difficult for motorists to spot before they pay.

Motorists who want to protect themselves from skimmers at gas station pumps are urged by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to consider taking these steps:

• Pay cash inside the store
• Check the gas pump dispenser cabinet to make sure it is secure and its safety tape has not been broken
• Use gas pumps that are closer to the front of the store
• Use a credit card to pay instead of a debit card since they tend to have better fraud protection
• If using a debit card at the pump, run it as credit to avoid using the PIN number
• Monitor bank accounts regularly

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Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department