Gas Pump Skimming Could Be Risk To Route Operators

Route operators beware. The fast-growing felonious trend in identity theft is the use of so-called gas pump skimmers. The devices, which are widely associated with ATMs, are now being used at gas pumps to capture credit and debit card information.

Last year, Manhattan DA Cyrus R. Vance Jr. brought charges against four suspects accused of using sophisticated skimmer technology to steal more than $2 million. Garegin Spartalyan, 40, Aram Martirosian, 34, Hayk Dzhandzhapanyan, 40, and Davit Kudugulyan, 42, were charged in a weighty 426-count indictment with money laundering in the second degree, criminal possession of stolen property and a forgery device, both in the second degree, and grand larceny in the second and third degrees, among several other charges.

According to investigators, the men somehow gained access to pumps at Raceway and Racetrac gas stations in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas where they installed the skimming devices. The devices themselves were more sophisticated than you might expect. The Bluetooth-enabled skimmers tapped into the pump's power supply and stored credit card data and PINs used at the pumps. The numbers were then retrieved via a wireless connection by simply pulling up to the pump and dumping the data into a laptop. Accomplices in different states would then use counterfeit cards and withdrew funds. The amounts withdrawn, according to authorities, were in sub-$10,000 increments to avoid anti-money laundering requirements by banks.

While the New York City--based operation was particularly ambitious, recent incidents of skimming at the pump have also been reported in Pittsburgh, Lake City and Palm Beach FL, and Houston, among others municipalities.

To date it is unknown whether the high-tech thieves gain access to the pump through an accomplice working for the gas station or by some other means.

TOOLS OF THE CRIMINAL TRADE:This sophisticated gas pump skimmer was recently retrieved during a bust by New York authorities. Using Bluetooth, the criminals were able to download their ill-gotten data through a wireless connection. [Photo by Manhattan District Attorney]