A driver cannot see a skimmer inside a gas pump, because the FBI says fuel pump skimmers are hidden within the machine and invisible to customers. Skimming is estimated to cost financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year. For the pump, the bureau’s advice comes down to two moves: pay inside, or tap.
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The advice is older than the current wave of reports, but it still matches what investigators describe.
The $1 billion estimate and who is behind it
The FBI’s skimming page states that it is estimated skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year, and it does not say who made the estimate. Other reporting fills that gap. CBS News wrote that the figure comes from U.S. Secret Service estimates, and Payments Dive likewise says the Secret Service, a Department of Homeland Security component, estimates skimmers still cause about $1 billion in losses annually. A third account, from a Money Laundering News report on the Secret Service’s crackdown, attributes the same sum to the FBI.
The split matters little to a driver, but it shows how loosely the number travels. It is a rounded estimate of annual losses, with no published method on the FBI page.
Where skimmers hide: pumps, ATMs and checkout terminals
The FBI defines skimming as devices illegally installed on or inside ATMs, point-of-sale terminals or fuel pumps that capture card data and record PIN entries. Pump skimmers sit in the machine’s wiring and store what they collect for later retrieval or wireless transfer. At ATMs, devices fit inside or over the card reader, while pinhole cameras or keypad overlays record the PIN. Criminals then use the captured data to make counterfeit cards.
Secret Service officials described the same difficulty. Vince Porter, a Secret Service analyst, told CBS News that skimmers are hard to spot and hard to remove, and that there is no way to tell how long one has been in use.
Pay inside, tap, and the rest of the FBI checklist
The FBI’s pump guidance is specific. Choose a pump near the store and in view of the attendant, and pay inside with the attendant instead of at the pump. If the card and terminal allow it, tap the card rather than swiping or inserting it. Michael Peck, an assistant special agent in charge in the Secret Service’s Criminal Investigative Division, called tap-and-pay “the best way to protect yourself as a consumer” in the CBS report, and he advised limiting card swipes whenever possible, since every swipe at a compromised reader is another chance for the data to be copied.
At the terminal itself, the bureau tells people to look for anything loose, crooked, damaged or scratched on the reader, and for a keypad whose color, material or shape looks inconsistent. Pulling at the edges of the keypad and covering it while entering a PIN guards against overlays and hidden cameras. Devices can also be fitted over the reader or along exposed cables at freestanding ATMs, and the FBI asks for extra alertness in tourist areas. Indoor, well-lit ATMs are preferred, and the FBI advises using chip cards, choosing a credit card over a debit card tied to a bank account, watching statements and turning on alerts. An ATM that keeps a card is a reason to call the bank right away.
Reporting a skimmer through the FBI’s IC3 portal
The FBI directs victims to its Internet Crime Complaint Center to report skimming. IC3 takes complaints at complaint.ic3.gov and says it cannot respond to every submission, though it asks for as many details as possible and urges filing even when it is unclear whether a case qualifies.
Benefit cards carry their own advice. If an EBT card may be compromised, the FBI says to contact the state agency or card issuer and change the PIN if funds remain, and it notes that state benefits agencies will not ask for cardholder PINs. Payments Dive reported that criminals time EBT attacks around monthly deposits, and it cites the FBI as saying the fraud has occurred since at least 2021. Any request for card details, the bureau adds, should be checked through a phone number or website already known to be real rather than one supplied in the message, and a strong PIN avoids repeated or consecutive digits.
The Secret Service reported eliminating 411 illegal point-of-sale skimmers in 2025 across 22 operations and 9,000 business visits, and said it potentially avoided $428.1 million in losses, per Payments Dive’s January 2026 account. The agency examined about 60,000 point-of-sale terminals, gas pump card readers and ATMs, in cities including Los Angeles, Washington, Anchorage, Boston, Orlando and New York. Those results sit beside an annual estimate above $1 billion, and the FBI page carries no date or method for that estimate. Which agency owns the number, and how it was counted, is still unanswered.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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