11-26-2018 , 04:19 AM
https://news.softpedia.com/news/u-s-secr...pd_related U.S. Secret Service Kickstarts Operation Targeting Gas Station Card Skimmers
200 skimmers already found after searching 400 as stations
Nov 23, 2018 19:33 GMT · By Sergiu Gatlan · Comment · Share:
Gas station card skimmer
The U.S. Secret Service announced the start of a new operation called "Operation Deep Impact" designed to hunt down and remove credit card skimmers from fuelling station pumps all across the U.S.
"More than 400 gas stations in 16 states have already been searched and nearly 200 skimmers recovered from pumps," says the press release (PDF).
"Secret Service agents, in partnership with fuel companies and law enforcement, will continue to locate and recover illegal credit card skimming devices throughout the holiday."
As detailed by the Secret Service, skimming is a method used by crooks to lift encrypted information from customers with the help of specially crafted electronic devices named skimmers.
The skimmers are designed to be embedded within the body of fuelling pumps, and they steal the data sent by a client's credit card when contacting the bank servers during the payment procedure.
"Operation Deep Impact" already helped customers avoid $6 million in losses
The Secret Service says that gas stations are a top target for bad actors who use skimmers to steal credit cards because of a large number of customers using them and the low risks of being discovered involved in installing the skimmers and recovering them to collect the stolen data.
"An estimated 54 million Americans will travel across town or across the country for Thanksgiving, and while doing so, many will buy gas for their cars," said the Secret Service. "These annual increases in motor travelers on the road during holidays mean bigger paydays for card-skimming financial criminals who target victims at fueling stations."
"Operation Deep Impact" is the fourth such operation conducted by the Secret Service during 2018 and, until now, it is also the most successful with roughly $6 million in losses having been prevented already.
The other three card skimming crackdown operations of the year started right before Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day, three other holidays when high numbers of customers are impacted by a higher risk of having their cards skimmed while fueling their cars.
Detailed information on how to detect credit card skimmer devices when fueling your car and on what to do if your credit card has been compromised by skimmers is available on U.S. Federal Trade Commision's website.
200 skimmers already found after searching 400 as stations
Nov 23, 2018 19:33 GMT · By Sergiu Gatlan · Comment · Share:
Gas station card skimmer
The U.S. Secret Service announced the start of a new operation called "Operation Deep Impact" designed to hunt down and remove credit card skimmers from fuelling station pumps all across the U.S.
"More than 400 gas stations in 16 states have already been searched and nearly 200 skimmers recovered from pumps," says the press release (PDF).
"Secret Service agents, in partnership with fuel companies and law enforcement, will continue to locate and recover illegal credit card skimming devices throughout the holiday."
As detailed by the Secret Service, skimming is a method used by crooks to lift encrypted information from customers with the help of specially crafted electronic devices named skimmers.
The skimmers are designed to be embedded within the body of fuelling pumps, and they steal the data sent by a client's credit card when contacting the bank servers during the payment procedure.
"Operation Deep Impact" already helped customers avoid $6 million in losses
The Secret Service says that gas stations are a top target for bad actors who use skimmers to steal credit cards because of a large number of customers using them and the low risks of being discovered involved in installing the skimmers and recovering them to collect the stolen data.
"An estimated 54 million Americans will travel across town or across the country for Thanksgiving, and while doing so, many will buy gas for their cars," said the Secret Service. "These annual increases in motor travelers on the road during holidays mean bigger paydays for card-skimming financial criminals who target victims at fueling stations."
"Operation Deep Impact" is the fourth such operation conducted by the Secret Service during 2018 and, until now, it is also the most successful with roughly $6 million in losses having been prevented already.
The other three card skimming crackdown operations of the year started right before Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day, three other holidays when high numbers of customers are impacted by a higher risk of having their cards skimmed while fueling their cars.
Detailed information on how to detect credit card skimmer devices when fueling your car and on what to do if your credit card has been compromised by skimmers is available on U.S. Federal Trade Commision's website.