By NICK HYTREK
Sioux City Journal
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) โ Each morning when Floyd Food & Fuel opens, a worker walks outside to take a look at the six gas pumps.
"We go out every day and check, open the covers to see if they've been tampered with," said Terri Carlson, manager of the store.
Tampering may be a sign that someone has installed a credit card skimmer inside the pump. The small electronic devices read information from customers' debit or credit cards, and criminals then use that information to create new cards to make fraudulent purchases on the owner's account.
"They open the door to the pump and attach it to the wiring inside so you never see it," said Sgt. Chris Groves, of the Sioux City Police Department's investigations bureau. "You or I don't know until we start seeing charges on our credit cards."
The Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/1SNnHnw ) reports that Skimmers have been found in three gas pumps in Sioux City in the past six weeks, most recently at the Cenex station at 1800 Highway 75 North on Tuesday. Other skimmers were found in late February at Cubby's and Select Mart in late March.
When a customer inserts a card into the skimmer, his or her account information is swiped and stored on the device, which criminals later retrieve or access remotely through a wireless device in order to download the information. Groves said the skimmers found in Sioux City all were the type that must be retrieved.
Unlike ATM skimmers, which are installed to the exterior of the machine, gas pump skimmers are installed in the pump's interior, usually inside the panel that houses the card reader and receipt printer. It's a panel that workers must access to change paper and is usually not sealed with a fuel pump inspector's security label. Inspectors check the pump's measuring accuracy by accessing a different panel, Groves said, then seal that panel.
Unless you see someone install the skimmer, it's hard to determine who put it there, Groves said, so police are encouraging gas companies and owners of gas stations and convenience stores to take extra steps to ensure security at their pumps.
"We would encourage all owners to do something to prevent unauthorized persons' access to the machine," Groves said.
Store owners are increasing their vigilance.
Ahson Alahi, who owns the four Select Mart stores in Sioux City, said workers inspect the pumps daily for signs of tampering. Extra locks have been added to pumps, but someone somehow unlocked the pump at the Gordon Drive store to install a skimmer. Alahi said that pump would not work the next morning, and the skimmer was found by police who were called to investigate. No data from customer cards had been downloaded onto the skimmer, he said.
Alahi said he has installed new pumps that are harder to tamper with at two of his stores, and the older pumps will eventually be replaced at his other two stores. Store employees continue to keep a close watch on the pumps through store windows and on surveillance camera monitors.
"We're watching. If somebody's playing with the pump, an employee would notice it," Alahi said, though he added that three of his stores are closed overnight.
At least one larger company has implemented additional security to try to discourage pump tampering.
Kristie Bell, director of communications of Kum & Go, a West Des Moines-based company that operates more than 430 stores in 11 states, including 10 in Sioux City and the metro area, said the company in 2014 began placing security labels on gas pump panels housing the receipt printer and card reader. Workers check pumps daily to see if the labels or pumps show any signs of tampering.
"If it appears to have been tampered with, we shut down the pump and have it inspected," Bell said.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship's Weights and Measures Bureau inspect gas pumps annually, and inspectors have begun checking pumps for skimmers during the inspection, department communications director Dustin VandeHoef said. Inspectors have found a couple skimmers, including one of those in Sioux City.
"It's kind of a new focus for us," VandeHoef said.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com
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