Florida men caught installing credit card ‘skimmers’ at Hardeeville gas pump, police say
With the help of an attentive customer, police caught two Florida men attempting to install credit card skimmers at a Hardeeville gas station, according to the Hardeeville Police Department.
Ramon Vila Garcia, of Miami, and Eduardo Cabrera Chavez, of Hialeah, Florida, were charged Saturday morning with criminal possession of financial transaction card forgery devices, which is considered a felony in South Carolina.
Both men were released on bond from the Jasper County Detention Center.
Around 1 a.m. Saturday, a customer at the Pilot gas station in Hardeeville, located off Exit 5 of I-95, noticed two men who appeared to be tampering with the store’s gas pumps. The customer flagged down patrol officers, who were able to pull over the men’s vehicle just before 2 a.m., according to Chief Sam Woodward, a spokesperson for the Hardeeville Police Department.
The men were identified as Garcia and Chavez. Along with a variety of electrical parts, police found two forgery devices inside the car, one of which Garcia tried to hide in his pants, Woodward said. Deputies also searched the men’s room at Hardeeville’s Days Inn, where they found two more devices.
The devices, known commonly as “skimmers,” are small scanners that can be attached to card readers in convenience stores or on ATMs and gas pumps. The devices then fraudulently scan, or “skim,” credit card information from unknowing users.
The men’s skimmers were designed to be placed over the gas station’s card readers, collecting card numbers, expiration dates and security codes. More advanced skimming devices can be installed inside the card readers, making them harder to notice, Woodward said.
Woodward said the men were not able to successfully install the devices onto the store’s gas pumps. Hardeeville deputies searched gas stations across the town and did not locate any skimmers, he said.
Police believe the two men were carrying out a large-scale fraud operation, traveling down I-95 and installing skimmers on the way.
The Hardeeville Police Department reported the incident to the FBI, which typically handles cases of skimming.
The town has not seen any other recent cases of skimming, Woodward said.
In Beaufort County, Maj. Angela Viens of the Sheriff’s Office said no skimmers have been found recently.
Still, Woodward says credit and debit card users should remain vigilant at the gas pump. Drivers can check for skimming devices by inspecting and lightly pulling at the card reader, he said. If the card reader is easily removed, it’s likely a skimmer.
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