WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. — West Memphis Police issued a warning for citizens and commuters to watch their bank accounts be cause scammers are targeting their debit and credit cards.
Investigators told WREG they found a card skimmer at an Exxon gas station on North Missouri Street on Tuesday.
Hundreds or thousands of people may be victims and not know it.
Customers filled up their gas tanks with a bit of concern on Wednesday.
“This my first time hearing about it,” Bria Greenlee said.
West Memphis police said criminals used a device to possible steal financial information.
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“That’s wrong. You don’t take from people,” Greenlee said.
Employees who work at the gas station said a service technician found the card skimmer attached to wires inside the gas pump.
“They take out this cable and put on the skimmer on the two end,” Mostofa Sarwal, a gas station employee, said.
Mid-South law enforcement agencies issued warnings about external card skimmers, but victim were likely blind to the crime in this most recent incident.
“There was nothing you could see to warn you ‘hey, there’s something foul going on here,'” Capt. Joe Baker, with the West Memphis Police Department, said.
Police said the older-style pumps at this particular gas station only requires a universal key to get inside.
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“They can open every pump,” Sarwal explained.
Officers do not know how many people could be affected.
The crime lab is working to pull information from the device to determine specific card numbers that could be in danger.
“It’s a lot easier for people to get your information and stuff like that,” Greenlee said. “If they can do that, then they can do something bigger.”
Police said some pumps have stickers that tell people to alert the cashier if the seal is broken, but the safest option is to pay for gas inside.
Investigators said if you’ve used the gas station, monitor your bank account and credit.
Call police if anything looks suspicious.