MEMPHIS, Mo.- A local business that was targeted by identity thieves this past spring has been hit once again.
Scotland County Sheriff Bryan Whitney told KMEM News that early Wednesday morning the store manager of the Casey’s Convenience Store in Memphis discovered that one of their fuel pumps had a seal and locking mechanism that had both been tampered with. Specifically, the pump seal was removed and the lock was punched out. The manager immediately shut down the affected pump and contacted local law enforcement as well as Casey’s corporate service technicians.
Sheriff Whitney secured the scene until the technicians arrived, at which point they opened the pump together. An active card skimmer device was found connected to the pump. The skimmer was removed and is being held by the Sheriff’s department as evidence.
Whitney said that he believes that the pump was tampered with sometime in the 36 hours prior to the Wednesday morning discovery. He stated that he will be contacting other agencies to assist in the investigation.
This is the second time that the Memphis Casey’s location has been targeted by identity thieves utilizing card skimmers on fuel pumps. On March 15th, a card skimmer was found inside a fuel pump with an active Bluetooth capability. A similar device was also found in a pump at the Lancaster Casey’s location at that time. Sheriff Whitney said that the technicians checked the Lancaster location after this latest incident, but all the pumps were found to be tamper-free.
The device found Wednesday at the Memphis location is identical to the device found in March, according to Sheriff Whitney. He further added that the method of breaking into the pump was the same as the previous incident. There was no video surveillance of the pumps available either time.
Sheriff Whitney encourages anyone who has purchased fuel at the Memphis Casey’s location between Monday evening and Wednesday morning to closely monitor their debit and credit card accounts. He said the best way for the public to protect themselves at the pump is to always check and make sure there is an intact and valid security seal sticker on the pump and that there are no signs of tampering prior to swiping your card. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Scotland County Sheriff’s Department at 660-465-2106.
