May 2, 2007

NEWS: Manhunt for Gas Station Thief

Last week, British authorities announced that they would be commencing with an international manhunt, with the intent to nab those people responsible for perpetuating a gas station credit card scam. Citing what they referred to as the “unprecedented scale” of the scam, police are cooperating on a major scale to find the crooks involved. Police believe that those responsible “skimmed” consumers’ credit and/or debit card numbers via a foreign reader implanted in place of the real device. Humberside police are said to be going over thousands of fuel purchase receipts from the Hull station.

The number of consumers who bought gas at the station and have since become victims of skimming is said to amount to thousands. British authorities have issued country-wide warnings to consumers warning them to be leery of any suspicious situations at gas stations. The situation mirrors the fiasco earlier this year at a busy station in Shrewsbury, where many consumers had their cards skimmed and cloned by a ring of unsavory fraudsters.

The owner of the fuel station at the center of this latest investigation is said to be cooperating fully with police as the matter is being looked into.


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