Trial Date Set for Gas Pump Skimming Case

The alleged perpetrator gathered debit- and credit-card information via devices attached to gasoline pumps.

May 25, 2011

HONOLULU - In July, the alleged criminal who stole credit- and debit-card data from more than 150 consumers via skimming devices installed in gasoline pumps will go on trial, BankInfoSecurity.com reports. Ariak Davtyan has been charged with three counts of first-degree identity theft after taking more than $150,000 from six Hawaii financial firms through stolen credit- and debit-card information.

Universal gasoline keys for pay-at-the-pump terminals has been known to provide thieves with easy access, drawing them to self-service pumps, said Nicole Sturgill, research director at TowerGroup.

Davtyan and two others apparently installed electronic skimming devices at four gasoline stations on Oahu. The owner of the four stations, Aloha Petroleum, has since put locking mechanisms on fuel dispensers at all of its stations. The company also has also disallowed PIN-debit payments because of the ease in which the thieves used that data to design fraudulent debit cards.

"The fight back here is beginning, and we've been looking at it very closely with our PCI PTS standard, to see what we can do with our security guidance and merchants to try and make them understand the types of attacks that can happen and how these can be difficult to detect," said Jeremy King, Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council??s European regional director. "We give them guidance on day-checks they should be doing."

In March, NACS debuted its WeCare Decal, a tamper-evident label that assists retailers in finding and fixing potential breaches in security. "If the label is lifted to insert a skimming device, a 'void' message appears on the label, providing a visual alert to store employees, so that additional action can be taken," said Jeff Lenard, NACS spokesman. "Because the labels clearly indicate that they are to prevent tampering, the labels help assure customers that their data is secure, and discourage criminals targeting the store."

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