Yesterday, Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) officers responded to a call of a possible breach in credit/debit card security at the Sunset Chevron (7655 Sunset Highway) station.
A Chevron employee discovered card skimmers while he was changing the receipt paper in one of the station’s pumps at 10 a.m. on Sept. 15.
Employees secured the pumps and took them out of service, pending technical analysis and evidence processing. They also ordered upgraded locks and will install them soon, which will enhance the pump security.
Officers checked all the remaining gas pumps at each station on Mercer Island and initially did not locate any additional skimmers, though from resident feedback, there is more than a fair chance that other stations on the Island have been hit.
“If you purchased gas at the Sunset Chevron anytime between Friday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m., you should contact your credit/debit card company or bank and advise them of the possible breach, cancel the card and request a new one,” MIPD Commander Leslie Burns wrote on the Mercer Island Police and Emergency Management Facebook page. Like the page for more information.
MIPD investigators will be working the case and have reported several of these security breaches at gas stations up and down the I-5 corridor from south of Portland, through the Seattle area.
