Watsonville police find more credit card skimmers at local gas stations

Central Coast News reported last week that Watsonville police are seeing numerous cases of thieves stealing credit card information at the gas pump.

Tuesday, officers were out checking more gas stations for the small, hidden devices known as “skimmers.” Last week, reporter Jake Reiner was inspecting pumps at Gomez Gas and Automotive with the owner and found a skimming device in one of the pumps. Police on Tuesday found another skimmer hidden in a pump at the same station.

The skimmers are used to steal credit and debit card information, including pin numbers.

Detectives said that since this story first aired, they’ve received several reports from consumers reporting fraudulent charges out of southern California.

So far, Watsonville police have made no arrests, and detectives say they don’t have the manpower to sift through thousands of hours of surveillance footage.

The perpetrators are liking from out of the area.

Police are working to teach local businesses how to be vigilant and check to ensure these skimmers aren’t being inserted in their gas pumps. They advise consumers to try and pay with cash whenever possible, because you never know which pump may have a skimmer inside