A confiscated skimming device, designed to look like a point-of-sale terminal, sits on a table with other evidence during a Metro Police news conference on April 26, 2024.
Friday, April 26, 2024 | 10:14 a.m.
The U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies recently spent two days inspecting thousands of payment terminals at businesses as part of an operation to crack down on skimming fraud.
Criminals can steal customer financial information using devices attached to card readers at stores, gas pumps and ATM machines. Criminal also target Electronic Benefit Transfer cards used to receive government food assistance.
The stolen information can be used to access victims’ bank accounts and to create fraudulent EBT cards.
After creating fraudulent EBT cards, scammers often buy products like baby food or candy and sell them, officials said.
The financial impact can be devastating for the victims, officials said.
“It's easily in the millions of dollars, and I'm saying that conservatively,” Metro Police Deputy Chief Nick Farese said.
During the recent operation, authorities recovered 18 skimming devices after checking more than 11,000 gas pumps, ATMs and point-of-sale terminals.
None of the business where the skimming devices were recovered were aware they had been targeted, officials said.
The operation, the first of its kind, was conducted in Las Vegas after a Secret Service investigation in Southern California found an organized crime group based in Eastern Europe had spread to neighboring states, including Nevada, officials said.
“We believe that these same bad actors are capturing card data in Nevada and other states, and they were drawing those funds in California,” Secret Service Special Agent Karon Ransom said.
No arrests were made in Las Vegas during the operation, but financial fraud through skimming is a felony, officials said.
There are steps consumers can take to help protect themselves from skimming when paying with cards, officials said.
If possible, people should run cards as credit rather than debit and hide PIN inputs with their hands, officials said. Some skimming devices have small cameras to record the PIN numbers as they are punched in, officials said.
“Although it is crucial that law enforcement come together to combat these criminal activities, it is imperative to highlight community vigilance and most importantly, timely reporting,” Farese said.
