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Accused skimmers busted at the pump
They're accused of stealing your money, busted after putting credit card skimmers on gas pumps, according to authorities. FOX 35 was the only station there when it went down.
LAKE MARY, Fla. - FOX 35 News was there as two men were arrested for installing skimming devices at a Lake Mary gas station.
Photographer Brad Flanagan was in the parking lot when deputies swarmed the place Tuesday. He grabbed his camera and started rolling.
Seminole County deputies patted down and handcuffed the men at the Kangaroo Express on Lake Mary Boulevard.
“One of our investigators actually did some surveillance yesterday afternoon and to his shock, here come these guys in broad daylight, opening up the gas pumps to put in these skimmers,” said Seminole Co. Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Bob Kealing.
Yohiry Acosta Herrera and Justo Rodriguez Medina are accused of removing a skimmer from one pump, and installing a skimmer inside a different pump.
“It all just happened within just a few minutes,” Kealing said.
The sheriff’s office says a fraud victim reached out recently, saying the gas station near I-4 was one of the last places they used their hacked credit card.
Skimmers have become a major headache for consumers across Florida.
The Department of Agriculture says in 2019, 1,549 skimmers were found statewide. In the two months of 2020 there have been 168.
“This does happen with frequency. We are out in neighborhoods on any given day surveilling certain places,” Kealing said. “Bad guys be aware, we are on the lookout for these types of things.”
Officials say the suspects were using the skimmers on the pumps at the far end of the gas station. They say people should try and use pumps that are closer to the main building. It’s also important to check to see if the security tape has been tampered with.