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Investigators discover wireless credit card skimmer at Sharonville gas station

Posted at 12:43 AM, Feb 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-24 08:23:16-05

SHARONVILLE, Ohio -- 2017 is an age of technological convenience for everyone, including credit card skimmers.

Sharonville police said Thursday that Hamilton County inspectors had discovered a Bluetooth-enabled skimmer at a Sunoco. Most credit card skimmers require the person who planted them to return and collect them in order to access copied credit card information, but police said that this skimmer could wirelessly transmit its store of stolen information to its source without the need for a physical return.

"These people can do a tremendous amount of damage very quickly," said Sergeant Walter Cordes of the Sharonville Police Department. "Even people that are tremendously diligent about where they use their credit cards still sometimes might become victims.”

The owner of that Sharonville Sunoco had been cited before for failing to secure its pumps, according to an incident report filed by police. Joyce Alexander, who manages a Shell in Camp Washington, hopes to protect her customers with routine checks and a wary eye.

"If there's a person at a pump too long, you go see what they're doing," she said. "If they're sitting there too long, you go see what they're doing."

Investigators said that the safest way to pay at a gas station is to pay cash or head inside, and John Matarese recommends never using a debit card at a gas station.