BIRMINGHAM — A skimming device was recently found on a pump at a Birmingham Mobil station, thanks to efforts by the store owner and his employees to protect the site and its customers against skimming, an aggressive tactic used to illegally obtain consumer card data for fraudulent purposes.

C & G Newspapers reports that station owner Kyle Hannawa and his staff check the pumps once a day for skimming. During one daily check, an employee noticed the pump’s panel had been opened. Police were called and a skimming device was found inside the dispenser.

The news source noted steps that customers and c-stores can take to help protect against skimming, which are also incorporated into the NACS/Conexxus We Care Data Security Program. Some of these tactics include making sure there is a clear and unobstructed view from the point of sale inside the store to the dispensers; and the use of access security strips that help store personnel visually inspect and detect tampering at the dispenser.

In fact, the broken security strip is what tipped off Hannawa’s employee that the dispenser was compromised. “[W]e checked that day and we found the skimmer because we put those seals on the locks, and we saw it [was broken],” he told the news source.

Protect Your Dispensers From Skimming
This Thursday, Dec. 17, 3:30–4:30 pm EST, NACS and Conexxus will host a timely webinar, free to all retailers, highlighting the processes and tools available to protect dispenser terminals from intrusion and skimmers. The webinar will be conducted by representatives from Gilbarco Veeder-Root, Wayne Fueling Systems and the NACS We Care program.

To join the December 17 webinar, click here and enter the webinar ID: 126-920-387.