TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Police Department is looking for these two men who they accuse of placing a skimmer at a Mobil gas station.
According to the police department, the suspects placed the skimmer in the pump in January and then went back on Thursday to try to retrieve it. The gas station is located on Cross Creek Blvd.
Officers are giving kudos to the employees of the gas station, who discovered the skimmer before the suspects went back to check it. The clerks contacted police.
"You have an employee at the Mobil gas station there that did the right thing,caught this on camera and notified our detectives," Eddy Durkin with the Tampa Police Department said.
State officials say skimmers are a serious problem in Florida. Their most recent data, which is from January, shows they found 79 skimmers throughout the state. They expect that number to rise.
ABC Action News received a statement from Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner, Nicole Fried, Friday evening.
"Detecting skimmers and protecting Floridians from fraud and theft is one of my top priorities. If you install a gas pump skimmer, it will be found, and you will be prosecuted," she said.
Durkin said they hope someone recognizes the two men on the Mobil gas station surveillance video.
"We're hoping we're going to stop them in their tracks and (get) them off the street," Durkin said.
If you have any information about the men seen on the surveillance video, contact the Tampa Police Department.
Officers encourage anyone who visited that gas station to check their bank accounts. Even if you did not visit that particular gas station, officers encourage consumers to make it a habit to regularly check their bank accounts for any discrepancies.
