Credit/debit card skimmers at Fast Gas in Sebastopol

Advisory from the Sebastopol Police Department

Debit/Credit Card skimmers removed from Sebastopol Fas Gas pumps.
Friday June 23rd, 2017

On June 13th, Sebastopol Police Officer Cameron Fenske met with a representative of the Redwood Credit Union regarding possible fraudulent charges originating from the theft of Debit/Credit Card information via skimmers at the Sebastopol Fas Gas.

Sebastopol Police Staff and Fas Gas Staff repeatedly inspected the card readers at the business and did not locate any suspicious devices. On June 21, a gas pump technician conducted a hardware inspection of the pumps, locating two skimming devices. Those devices have been removed and are being processed for evidence.

The Sebastopol Police Department is working closely with other law enforcement agencies to identify possible suspects. The business is taking additional security measures to prevent future placement of skimming devices.

If you have purchased gasoline at the Sebastopol Fast Gas since March 1st, you are encouraged to check your bank and credit card statements for fraudulent activity. If any fraudulent activity is discovered, please contact the Sebastopol Police Department at (707) 829-4400.

A skimmer is a device that captures Debit/Credit Card information when the user makes a purchase. They are designed to look like the internal components of the Debit/Credit Card reader.

Address/Location
Sebastopol, CA Police Department
6850 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol

For those of us who do not notice the business name of the gas stations we fill up at, it would be helpful to supply the location too. I checked and it is not one I use. It is at the south end of town across from the hotel.

Patrick Brinton

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by O.W.:

Advisory from the Sebastopol Police Department

Debit/Credit Card skimmers removed from Sebastopol Fas Gas pumps.
Friday June 23rd, 2017 ...

---

It sounds like the skimmers are installed inside the pump - based on report that a technician had to inspect inside. If this is true then the perps must have a way to get inside the pumps. This would suggest either that the station (or company personnel) are not controlling access to the pumps... or, heaven forbid, it is an inside job.
Would seem that gas station has full liability (civil and criminal) for any loss - even if pump is poorly designed to prevent this.
Am I missing something?
Tom

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by Tom95472:

It sounds like the skimmers are installed inside the pump - based on report that a technician had to inspect inside. If this is true then the perps must have a way to get inside the pumps. This would suggest either that the station (or company personnel) are not controlling access to the pumps... or, heaven forbid, it is an inside job.
Would seem that gas station has full liability (civil and criminal) for any loss - even if pump is poorly designed to prevent this.
Am I missing something?
Tom

---

The part you're missing is that while the gas station is partly on the hook, it really is only by the credit card companies. The real crime is once those stolen numbers are successfully used. The gas station can be penalty to fines from the credit companies or lose the right to process credit cards in the future if deemed negligent.

Edit: I snickered re-reading your post... an inside job in the gas industry.... naw... the mob has never done that.

Thanks for response but (although credit card companies assumed risk to get people to use cards) all they do is pass that cost on to all credit card customers. Gas station (or other credit card processors) should be fully responsible to prevent theft. This includes guaranty that machines cannot be tampered with and that their employees are not able to do inside job. Gas stations who do. It accept this full responsibility should lose their ability to process credit/ATM cards until they have repaid all victims (and credit card companies) and had their machines certified as clean of skimmers and secure from tampering.
Tom

That would be unreasonable, considering that they don't make these credit card machines at the pump. As soon as a manufacturer designs a tamper proof device, someone figures out a way around it. That's the nature of our modern technology.

Now if the business isn't following required security procedures, that's a different story.

Ron

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by Tom95472:

Gas station (or other credit card processors) should be fully responsible to prevent theft. ....
Tom

---

So the gas stations make tons of money by using credit card transactions. They either guarantee the safety or lose their license to process cards. What happens now is that bank pays the fraudulent transaction and pass on cost to all consumers
The gas station supervises the pump. It's their pump and their service.
They can either pay more for a secure pump or provide hourly checks (by qualified and bonded technician) or hire a 24 hour security guard to monitor the pumps. They have to do whatever it takes to guard against fraud or they - and they alone - must pay the price. Either cover all losses (and subsequent customer or bank losses) or have the sealer stamp (license to operate pump) revoked. That will quickly solve problem.
Tom