"Identity skimming rises as police budgets shrink"

[Xicano]

As people struggle to make ends meet in the down economy, stealing credit card information is a growth industry, according to authorities.

In one recent case, thieves stole card information from 40,000 people, most of them in Los Angeles County. A reported $4.5 million was stolen during the scam.

"Anything you slide a credit card through is vulnerable," said Detective Duane Decker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Decker and FBI Agent Alice Tsujihara are two investigators on the Southern California High Tech Task Force Identity Theft Detail.

Due to budget restraints, cooperative law-enforcement detail has been cut in half, to about 15 members, Decker said.

"We don't have anyone from the police agencies on the task force because the budgets are all gone," Decker said.

The task force now includes the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the FBI and Secret Service agents, the investigators said.

Decker and Tsujihara said skimming devices can be installed on virtually any machine where credit cards are used, task force officials said.

The devices take as few as five minutes to install, investigators said.

The most difficult skimmers to detect are those used at gas stations, experts say. They are installed inside the gas pump and are usually completely out of sight, Decker said. A lock is placed on the device so no one can access the machine, he said.




http://www.whittierdailynews.com/crime/ci_16899452