COLDWATER (WTVB-AM) — Police in Coldwater say a watchful citizen helped authorities take down an alleged gas station credit card skimming operation based out of Miami that appeared well on its way to setting up a ring of skimmers in southern Michigan and northeast Indiana.
The arrest of the two suspects occurred after a customer at Shell on Coldwater’s west side alerted the station manager that she had seen a man open a gas pump credit access door early Friday evening.
The skimmers were found on two pumps. Police learned later that one had also been installed at the Marshall Street Shell on Coldwater’s north side.
The small devices placed in the gas pumps can steal credit card information off the magnetic strip when a card is inserted in the machine.
Authorities don’t believe anyone had been victimized by the devices because of the quick action at the westside Shell, where they obtained the license plate of the suspects before they drove off Friday.
Investigators with search warrants were able to obtain the cell phone number of the two men and use it to track their route, which took them to Fremont, Ind., and points south.
The pair were eventually located at a motel in Huntington County, Ind., and taken into custody by the FBI.
– Jim Whelan
