Advertisement

Investigators find 18 credit card skimmers in Tampa Bay gas stations

 
So far this year, 18 credit card skimmers were found in Tampa Bay gas stations. | [Times file photo]
So far this year, 18 credit card skimmers were found in Tampa Bay gas stations. | [Times file photo]
Published July 7, 2017

State investigators have found 18 illegal credit card skimmers at Tampa Bay gas stations since January, nearly as many as all of 2016. This accounts for seven percent of the 276 skimmers found across the state so far this year.

Credit card skimmers are small devices placed inside gas station pump dispensers that surreptitiously steal credit and debit card information from motorists.

According to newly released figures, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services removed four skimmers in Hillsborough County in 2017 so far, as well as 14 in Pinellas County.

Last year, the agriculture department found 11 in Hillsborough County for all of 2016, and 10 in Pinellas County for the same period.

The number of the devices found in 2017 has surpassed the count for the entirety of 2016, which was 219.

Previous coverage: Illegal credit card skimmer use on the rise at Florida gas stations

Contact Malena Carollo at mcarollo@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2249. Follow @malenacarollo on Twitter.