You may want to check your bank statements if you bought gas at the Shell and Sunoco stations on Newberry Road.
Until last week, the stations, located at 6900 W Newberry Road and 6800 W Newberry Road respectively, were home to credit card skimmers.
Skimmers are electronic identity-theft devices that read and store credit card information. The information is gleaned from the credit card readers on the pumps and stored on hard drives.
One such device was found at the Shell station on July 6. Two more were found at the Sunoco on July 8.
“Unfortunately, if you use your credit cards enough and your debit cards enough, it’s not a matter of if you’ll become a victim of some sort of credit card fraud, but a matter of when,” said Lt. Steve Maynard, the public information officer for the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
The skimmers were installed on the inside of the faceplates using a key that is available to regulators and inspectors of the gas pumps.
The skimmers were fitted with Bluetooth capability, so that perpetrators didn’t need to go back to the pumps to retrieve the information. Instead, they could remotely download the information using a cell phone or a laptop.
“It was quite clever,” Maynard said. “It definitely took someone with a fair amount of knowledge of how electronics are run. It also took someone with access to one of those keys.”
Maynard said that the skimmers were planted by a national criminal organization, and that the United States Secret Service has been investigating them for some time.
After being downloaded from the device, the card information is either used to manufacture new cards, or used to purchase items online.
The first of the devices was discovered by someone performing routine maintenance at the Shell station.
The devices at the Sunoco were found by the owners of the station, who checked their pumps after hearing about what happened at the Shell station.
Sheriff’s deputies have been working with the Gainesville Police Department and the Alachua Police Department to check all gas pumps within two miles of Interstate 75 for the devices. No other devices have been found.
Those concerned about safety at the pump should pay inside with cash, Maynard said.
“Cash is king. Cash is the only way you can guarantee your safety,” he said.
Businesses concerned about people installing skimmers should routinely check their pumps, particularly behind the faceplates, he said.
Both the Shell and the Sunoco stations declined to comment on the matter.
