Gas pump skimmers attached in 11 seconds

Skimmer (somewhere) inside a gas pump.

Breaking news from Las Vegas Metro’s Kim Thomas, the fraud cop featured in my story on credit card skimmers hidden in gas pumps.

Detective Thomas writes:

I read the post you did with my picture. It was very impressive. At the end you said a thief attached a skimmer in eight minutes. I just wanted to give you a small correction. We found that the one on the side of the gas pump drawer was attached in about 11 seconds, so if you add in opening the door, you’re looking at about 30 seconds (and that’s us fumbling with the key). So here’s the process: put the key in the lock, open the door, slide out the drawer, unplug the two cables from the gas pump connectors (keypad and reader cables), slap on the device, plug the two gas pump cables into the skimmer, plug the skimmer cables into the gas pump connectors, slide the drawer in, close the outside door, turn the key, remove it, test with a known credit card (outside the process of hooking the skimmer because anyone seeing you do that would assume you’ve doing something legitimate. Sounds like a lot, but look at a watch, close your eyes, and envision the process, then look at the watch and see what kind of time you get. It’ll probably amaze you. Now imagine practicing it a bit on your own gas pump either in your storage unit or living room or buddy’s gas pump. Now you’ve gotten faster and smoother, so you’re faster. See?

Thomas continues on the frightening trajectory of credit card fraud:

This type of crime used to be done strictly by hi-tech crews, but now we’re seeing it done by Joe and Julie the tweeker people (common street criminals), the traditional black crews who used to be just check passers and bust-out crooks, and the Hispanic immigrant groups who have always supplied ID documents (to name a few groups). There’s just so much money and property in this.

Hotel loyalty card and data showing on skimmer
A hotel loyalty card and its data showing on a skimmer

I just asked for a warrant on a member of a group of rich college kids (who bought a $7,500.00 watch in a high end Fashion Show Mall store) who have been buying numbers skimmed from American hotel chains in Europe, then using that track data to make counterfeits (this is a good way to do it because the cards are from American customers and less likely to raise a red flag with the bank looking at the transaction since it’s used in the US), which they then use at stores here, in SoCal, and in Arizona. They then take the property and sell it. The kicker is that all these kids are Mexican nationals whose parents are so wealthy they have their kids going to school at American Universities.

© Copyright 2008-2010 Bambi Vincent. All rights reserved.

See our pickpocket summary page.

More from Bambi Vincent
Shoebox-camera
Over the years we minimized our equipment as we acquired smaller and...
Read More
Join the Conversation

9 Comments

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. says: BILL GATES

    back then it was only Armenians doing this and ONLY Armenians,, and its was A OK , everything would go smooth and everyone involved would make money,,,, Now days, Mexicans are doing it without even knowing what the fuck they are doing, they install the skimmer and wait around for like 10 people to use the pump , download the data and run to the atm at the station they installed the skimmer and try to cash out, Now only Mexicans on the news concerning skimmer devices,
    ATLEAST SHOULD TRY TO DO IT SMARTER AND MAKE MONEY WHILE YOURE AT IT, EVERY ARMENIAN THAT WAS DOING THIS 15 YEARS AGO UP TIL 2015 GOT BILL GATES TYPE OF MONEY NOW

  2. says: IWantYou!

    Welcome to [deleted]! Shop!
    2015 to 2020 business am here for you!

    Balance Check USA 100% Guarantee Valid And Correct Billing Details:
    Balance Check Cc/Punch/Cvv Available with 100% Correct Balance guarantee..!!
    1k to 2k , 2k to 5k , 5k to 10k
    Each and every details of cc is 100% correct and valid billing details..!!

    [card number deleted]
    CVV: 548
    EXP: 01/15
    First Name: ANTHONY
    Last Name: [deleted]
    USA
    State: MA
    City: EAST BOSTON
    ZIP: 02128
    Address: [deleted]
    Available Balance : 9815$
    Per Day Limit : 3585$

    Balance Check Each Cc = 50$ to 100$

    List price USA Random:

    Visa= 8$
    Master =10$
    Amex/Discover = 12$

    *TEMS AND CONDITION
    *All Cvv LIVE and FERSH
    *No Gurantee Balance
    *I always keep proofs for my transactions
    *If u don’t like the price don’t contact me

    List price FULLS USA:
    Visa/Master = 35$
    Amex/Discover = 40$
    ———————Card info————————–
    BankName:
    CCNr:
    Name on Card:
    ExpM:
    ExpY:
    CVV2:
    SSN:
    DOB:
    MMN:
    ———————-Contact info———————–
    FName:
    LName:
    Address1:
    Address2:
    City:
    State:
    ZIP:
    Country: United States
    *All Fulls Active and Valid
    *No Gurantee Balance
    *Fulls Billing details and SSN/DOB/MMN Checked***8230;!!

    List price of Dumps USA 95% Valid :
    Visa / MC Classic, Standard 30$
    Visa / MC Gold, Platinium 45$
    Visa / MC Bus,World,Signature 45$
    Visa / MC Corps,Purchasing 55$

    RULES :
    -Instant delivery and replace system!
    -Updates made every 3-4 days!
    -Prices negotiable for large quantities.
    -All bad dumps get instant full refund – replace time is 1 to 5 hours (service is available 24/7).
    Before contact me, you must read and agree to these rules
    if you are real buyer .
    add me : [deleted]
    ICQ :[deleted]

    Welcome to [deleted]! Shop!..You are get everything you just need..

  3. says: John Shriber

    If you’re using a drive-thru machine, ensure your car doors are locked. The waiters allegedly used an identity theft technique called skimming, in which they allegedly scanned their customers’ credit cards with a handheld scanning
    device that retained the account numbers and other information.
    This is more so for skimming where the only reason such breaches
    take place is when employees make a willing and conscious effort to engage in fraud.
    In college, I got an offer to subscribe to a bunch of different magazines for a certain price per magazine per week.

  4. says: Rick

    Well I guess that kills the theory it’s done because of financial need. Seems it’s done because ‘why not’? Oh we got a good one going on here. Another great Bambi/Bob article. Thank you.