Gatesville and Hamilton police departments are conducting separate investigations after skimmer devices used to steal credit card and personal information were placed at gas stations in both cities last week.
In both cases clerks noticed the pumps had been tampered with after seeing the seal on a pump was broken. However, it is unknown whether both of them are related.
According to Hamilton Police, officers retrieved skimmer devices placed inside of the pumps at the CEFCO located at 1101 East Main Street on June 22. It is unknown when those skimmers were placed there and there are no suspects in this case.
In Gatesville, police said clerks checked the pumps at the CEFCO at the intersection of Hwy 84 and Hwy 36 at 10:30 a.m. on June 22. The skimmer device was found around 5:20 a.m. on June 23, according to police. Officers believe the skimmer device was placed there overnight. Police said there is one person of interest in this case at this point and officers plan to release surveillance video once they obtain the video from the company and review it.
Gatesville Police Chief Nathan Gohlke said a skimmer device was also placed at the same CEFCO store back in March. The chief said he is not surprised it happened at the same location again.
"That is a high traffic area. A lot of times ultimately someone who is looking to take someone's information is going to look for a high traffic location to place those skimmers basically to get more information," Gohlke said.
At this time, it is unknown if there are any affected customers from the Gatesville incident or if the suspect was able to retrieve information from the device.
"There are two type of skimmers, the one that has to be retrieved by the suspect and take it with him and the bluetooth models as well," Gohlke said.
To prevent becoming a victim of identity theft, he recommends checking the keypad or card reader have not been tampered with. He also advises to pay attention to the seal on the pump.
"There are security seals that are at each pump and if they see that security seal has been broken, voided out or tampered with in any way, they need to stop and make sure they alert the clerk," Gohlke said.
He said the best way to make sure your information is not compromised is to pay with cash.
News Channel 25 contacted CEFCO and a spokesman said the company could not comment because there is an ongoing investigation.
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