21 days ago
PATTERSON, CA - The best part of this story is how sloppy the ID thieves were.
Recently at the 76 gas station just off Interstate 5 in Patterson, those thieves removed a scanning device from a credit card reader and put in their own. Sheriff's investigators think it was likely in the pump for two days.
"The person will come back and remove it out of the pump and download the personal information that was collected," said Sgt. Robert Banks of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.
Luckily, a customer saw an exposed wire and police were called. The scanner was removed before the thieves could return and get it.
Even though the threat no longer exists at that gas station, Banks suggested people avoid those island gas readers.
"It's not something you'd see at the pump, so I'd suggest going inside and paying with a credit card to the cashier," he said.
The memory chip installed by the thieves and now in possession of the sheriff's department will be examined for the names of people who pumped gas those two days. Those people will be informed they came very close to becoming victims of identity theft.
News10/KXTV
