Device can detect card skimmers

TRENTON—Mercer County investigators and inspectors have acquired a Bluetooth locator to help protect consumers against thieves who are intent on stealing credit card data at gas pumps and other payment machines.

Called BlueSleuth, the locator tool scans an area for all nearby Bluetooth devices and based on signal strength can zero in on a suspicious device such as a credit card skimmer hidden inside a gas pump. The skimmer installed by a thief records and stores the credit card data, and the thief can return to capture the stolen credit card numbers over Bluetooth without ever touching the pump again.

A total of six BlueSleuths have been purchased by the Mercer County Division of Consumer Affairs/Weights & Measures and the Prosecutor’s Office to help investigators and inspectors when they’re out in the field.

“This tool will allow our Weights & Measures staff, for example, to check for card skimmers when they’re making routine gas station inspections,” Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes said. “I thank the Prosecutor’s Office for supporting this effort. We will continue to do everything we can to keep consumers from becoming innocent victims in our communities.”

If a card skimmer is detected, the matter will be referred to the Prosecutor’s Office for further investigation.

“A single compromised gas pump can capture data from 30 to 100 credit cards per day,” Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said. “We are happy to do our part in taking a proactive approach to thwarting this type of criminal activity.”

The county purchased the BlueSleuth devices from Berkeley Varitronics Systems of Metuchen at a cost of $995 apiece.

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Photo: Gino Melone (foreground), Mercer County Consumer Affairs Investigator, and Richard Jauss, Mercer County Weights & Measures Inspector, test the BlueSleuth device at a gas pump.