A crackdown on card skimmers will be discussed during Monday’s Cape Coral city council meeting.
The city will be reviewing an ordinance that is already in place regarding gas station security. Council members will discuss if Ordinance 17-18 should be amended to require gas stations to have a larger responsibility in protecting customers credit card information.
The proposal was suggested by the Cape Coral Police Department which has seen more high-tech card skimmers popping up across the city in recent years.
According to Cape Coral Police, eleven card skimmers were found in 2017, and two were discovered in 2016. A spokesperson for the Cape Coral Police Department says their department began conducting independent card skimmer sweeps in 2017.
The proposal would amend the current ordinance to include the following requirements.
- Require gas stations to install locks that are unique to each station.
- Install a system that would shut the pump off if it’s been tampered with.
- Or, a system that encrypts the card information once customer swipes.
Across the state, 613 card skimmers were uncovered in 2017, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which monitors gas station pumps. The highest concentration of card skimmers were found in South Florida.
If passed, gas stations that do not abide by the ordinance would face a $250 fine per pump, per day they are in violation. If the ordinance is amended the changes would go into effect as early as May.
A public hearing on the matter will be held on March 5th.
