TYLER, Texas — With climbing prices at the pump, the last thing you need is a scammer trying to drain more money from your wallet.
Credit card skimming in East Texas has declined in recent years but it’s not gone yet. Adam Colby, director for the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center (FCIC), said it’s getting harder to spot.
Colby said, “We've seen them where it looks like it was constructed by a kindergartener. But we've also seen ones that looks like it came right off of a factory line.”
Colby said you can use a phone or a computer for normal purposes or to commit crimes. But a skimmer is designed to do one thing and one thing only, steal credit card information.
Once scammers have that information, Colby said they mostly use your funds to buy diesel gas to resell on the black market.
“If you're watching somebody pump gas, running multiple credit cards while they're pumping gas, and quite often pumping fuel for 20 minutes or longer, that's a pretty clear indicator that somebody is using pre coded cards to buy an excessive amount of fuel,” Colby said.
Here’s how to stay ahead:
- Aim to use pumps with the most up to date technology, including chip readers.
- If there’s serialized tape around the doors, make sure it hasn’t been tampered with.
- If you’re using a debit card, never use your pin number. Instead, run your debit card as credit and enter your zip code.
Also work with your bank to set up transaction alerts so you find out immediately if your info has been compromised.