The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) is managing the database, which also receives information from credit card companies. As the database grows,
the information will be used to forecast potential skimming risks.
“We know there are certain markets that are more prone to skimming than others,” said Gray Taylor, executive director of PCATS. “We know [fraudsters] work the interstate corridors and high-volume sites, and so our hope is that if we can track a trend, we can alert the oil companies so that they can notify their district representatives who will get the word out to stations along those corridors before they get hit.”
Pay-at-the-pump skimming has been difficult to track because many convenience stores and gasoline stations don’t want to report incidents. Many also don’t fully know how much damage a skimming incident can do until after the fact. But oil companies have a better understanding of how the fraud cases can be connected, and they are strongly urging retailers to alert authorities about incidents and apply enclosure tampering tape on pumps.
“That’s why we ask the retailers to report back by checking the tape serial numbers for tampering on a daily basis,” said Taylor. “The banks’ biggest beef is when they have
repeated skims in a town and they don’t see the merchants doing anything to stop it.”
The new database is important because it provides documentation of fraud cases from all over the country, which can help law enforcement in their investigations. Taylor said that bringing together banks and retailers is the start to develop a more accurate
picture of skimming.
NACS can help you protect your business and your customers. Watch a NACS video to show you how or order We Care decals for your stores. NACS also has a fact sheet that examines retailer
concerns about card skimming. (NACS: www.nacsonline.com)
