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Card, gas scams net millions for criminals
Catherine Hawley reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Bay Area law enforcement agencies are trying to put the brakes on a multi-million-dollar scam targeting credit card holders and gas stations.
Crooks steal credit card information while you're at the pump then use it to buy hundreds of gallons of diesel to sell on the black market.
The skimmers are small and hard to spot, many times hidden inside the gas pump. Thieves use them to steal your payment card data, then fraudulently spend your money. It's a serious issue across the state.
"We're finding more every year, our inspectors are finding more,” said Florida Department of Agriculture Deputy Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Mary Barzee Flores. "Every single skimmer can be responsible for up to $1-million of fraud."
In 2019, the Department of Agriculture reports 1,555 skimmers were discovered statewide.
Last week in Seminole County, Yohiry Acosta Herrera and Justo Rodriguez Medina were busted after a deputy witnessed the duo removing a skimmer from one pump, and installing a device inside another.
Investigators also found a gift card re-coded with a stolen credit account number, hinting at a larger organized crime.
"Our law enforcement officers also work to capture gangs that are responsible not only for placing these illegal skimmers but also for illegal fuel sales that they make with the stolen credit card information,” Flores said.
These fuel scam rings are multi-million-dollar operations. Officials said after the skimmers are installed, the stolen data is often used to make a new card. The criminals then hit gas stations, pumping hundreds of gallons of diesel into illegal tanks hidden in their vehicles. The expensive bills paid for with your hacked payment info.
"The fuel is sold on the black market, so it's sold to, on construction sites, to landscapers, to folks that have fleets of cars that need fuel," said Flores. "It is absolutely a concerted and coordinated scheme."
To make sure you don't become a victim, officials recommend checking the card reader and security tape at the pump before you fill up and try to use the spots closest to the gas station clerks.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating a possible fuel theft ring here in our area.