(CBS ) –With more than 44 million Americans expected to hit the road for Independence Day travel, federal agents took part in a nationwide effort to find and remove illegal credit card skimming devices from fuel stations in 21 states, the Secret Service said Tuesday.
The card-reading devices called “skimmers” are installed by would-be thieves either outside or inside a fuel dispenser, capturing information that can then be used by scammers.
Agents from 36 field offices this week were inspecting pumps for the devices used to steal encoded information on credit cards and debit cards, with fueling stations a prime target as they are typically unattended and in frequent use. That may offer at least some comfort to Americans already forking over the most in four years to fill up their gas tanks this July 4 holiday.
Read more about the crack down from CBS News.
