CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — After comments appeared on social media claiming local credit card skimming, the Corpus Christi Police Department has confirmed there has been a steady amount of credit card skimming going on in Corpus Christi, as well as throughout the state.
CCPD said the people using these credit card skimmers at gas stations aren’t targeting one specific area. They’ve had reports throughout the South Side, Flour Bluff, and along SPID. Unfortunately they said many of the credit card skimmers are placed inside pumps where we can’t see them, but they did say some you can detect with a simple pull on the card reader.
In past experiences, police said thieves like to use pumps in low lit areas, closest to the street and out of sight by the store clerk.
“In our experience, they seem to target the pumps on the far end of the stores which are usually the diesel pumps," said Det. Marcus Garanzuay with the CCPD Financial Crimes Division. But again, it’s not exclusive to just those. Anything with a card reader is vulnerable.”
Police suggest if you see something suspicious at your gas pump to notify police and treat it as a crime scene.
"You notice suspicious transactions on your statements," said Garanzuay. "Let the financial institution know first. Kind of stop the bleeding. Then call us, let the police know so we can document it as well and try and establish a pattern."
The detective added that most skimmers they see are bluetooth,which means these people don’t have to come back for them and they can sit nearby to collect the fraudulent information.
If you feel like you've been a victim of credit card skimming you can call police at 361-886-2600.
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