Eagan Police Work To Curb Gas Station Credit Card Skimming
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Eagan police are going the extra mile to stop credit card skimming at gas stations.
With a small device put on a credit card reader, criminals can quickly capture your credit card data as soon as you swipe your card to pay at the pump. It can be placed as quickly as 30 seconds.
Eagan police said, in one skimming case, thieves took data from 157 people. It was such a problem in Eagan that police decided to do something about it.
"SkimStop is a program to stop skimming devices from being placed inside pumps," Eagan police officer Aaron Machtemes said. "This is a partnership between local law enforcement and gas stations."
The bright yellow stickers are what customers should be on the lookout for if they want to get a sense of security.
Machtemes says strips of red tape make getting access much tougher for thieves. If they're tampered with, someone is going to know about it.
"If they pull it up just a little, you see it start to void," he said, demonstrating what happens to the tape when it's removed. "And now its voided, so on a daily check if someone sees that or if a customer's aware of the program and they see that, law enforcement is instantly notified."
Once the stickers are in place, all the stations need to do is check the pumps each day to make sure they're still intact.
You will find the SkimStop program at the following eight different gas stations around Eagan, but police do expect even more to follow suit.
Holiday: 1065 Diffley Road
Holiday: 1650 Diffley Road
Holiday: 4595 Nicols Road
Holiday: 1579 Cliff Road
Holiday: 2660 Eagan Woods Drive
Holiday: 3615 Pilot Knob Road
Holiday: 3044 Holiday Lane
New Mart Gas Station: 1969 Silver Bell Road