Arco identity thefts similar

A recent wave of identity thefts at a Huntington Beach service station resembles a string of similar rip-offs at Costa Mesa stations in October and April, authorities say. But so far they don’t have enough evidence to say if they are connected.

The thieves struck a Huntington Beach Arco station last week by placing a hard-to-see shell over the payment machine to steal debit-card numbers where customers swipe them. For the last few weeks investigators have been poring over surveillance videos from several gas station payment kiosks to develop leads on suspects.

Costa Mesa Investigator Sheila Cannan first started working the case in April after receiving about 10 similar identity theft reports. That number has at least doubled since, police said.

“We became aware of a number of people coming in and filing identity theft reports and started seeing similarities where [the cards] were used before the thefts and after,” Cannan said, adding that it appeared that the debit-card numbers were “skimmed” over a 5-day period.

In Huntington Beach police are looking for three suspected thieves they believe stole more than $75,000 using credit-debit card skimming devices at the Arco station, 21452 Brookhurst St. Customers reporting the thefts all used the Arco between June 21 or June 22 and later found someone was stealing money from their ATM accounts, police said.

Three Arco stations in Costa Mesa have been hit. One was hit twice. In the October thefts there were nearly 450 victims. Later, investigators determined the thieves used the pilfered debit-card numbers to withdraw large amounts of cash in Las Vegas later that month.

The dates of the thefts and withdrawals matched more than 10 identity theft reports made to the Westminster Police Department in October.

The one similarity in all of the thefts is that the cards were used at Arco gas stations, authorities say. It’s not known, however, if that’s where the card numbers were originally stolen in every case.

Investigators declined to say whether all of the thefts are connected.

Devices used in skimming can be easily placed over the actual payment equipment and can be difficult to see, although a quick tug will reveal most phonies, Cannan said.

“Before you place your card into any device jiggle the face plate,” Cannan said. “More often than not they’re attached by two-sided tape,” Cannan said, adding that most have been discovered in such a manner.

Arco representatives would not say whether the company is considering changing its payment kiosks, but stressed they take the string of thefts seriously and would step up security.

“For any retail vendor that uses payment systems, the tools that go into that system are constantly being tested,” Arco spokesman Todd Spitler said. “We are working very closely with law enforcement [on] these incidents and the few sites that have been identified.”

“We want them to stop targeting our machines. Our ultimate priority is for safe and secure use for our customers.”

Pay stations are routinely checked throughout the day, he said.

“We’re all customers in some point of our daily lives and we all must remain vigilant when we use our ATM cards at any business,” Spitler said.