Brevard Sheriff’s Office Economic Crimes Task Force, Partners Go After Credit Card Skimmers

Brevard detectives find 18 skimmers

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was written by Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA –  42 law enforcement officers took a very proactive approach to protecting our citizens from credit card fraud and identity theft in preparation for the Holiday Season.

As part of the initiative, Agents from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Economic Crimes Task Force, United States Secret Service, Department of Agriculture, and FDLE physically examined 251 Gas Stations throughout Brevard County in search of illegal credit card skimmers that had been covertly installed in gas pumps.

Assisted by Detectives from Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Cocoa, West Melbourne, Melbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville and the Rockledge Police Departments the operation led to the seizure of 18 skimmers that had been installed inside the pumps to target unsuspecting citizens.

Electronic Skimmers capture the credit card data when the credit card is used to purchase fuel, using the “pay at the pump” features offered by most Gas Stations today. The device is covertly installed inside the pump by criminals who illegally gain access to the inside of the fuel pump and later return to collect the in-line slimmer and stolen data.

With the Thanksgiving Holiday and the busiest shopping day of the year just around the corner, our Economic Crimes Unit wanted to do everything possible to protect our citizens from the increase in credit card fraud that generally occurs during this time of the year.

I would like to personally thank all of the agencies and Law Enforcement Officers who participated in the operation as well as the various businesses throughout our community who assisted in the investigation by allowing our teams to examine the pumps.

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