HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Hollywood police along with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services were on the hunt for gas station skimmers Friday morning.
"We are finding a couple of them in the city," Sgt. Pablo Vanegas said.
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As Local 10 News first showed you last month, skimmers are getting harder to detect and are inserted into the pumps, where they are not clearly visible.
"(The skimmer is) copying your information as you swipe your card," Vanegas explained.
According to Miami-Dade police's Economic Crimes Bureau, each skimmer can record up to 2,000 credit card numbers.
"That little strip on your credit card has all your information," Vanegas said.
"It is good to know, maybe I will start paying cash," one customer told Local 10 News.
Paying with cash is one option to protect yourself from the threat you can't even see. So is going inside to pay the clerk either by cash or credit.
"I don't use these. I go inside, man, because I don’t trust this," one man said.
Authorities advise keeping an eye out on security tape tabs at the pumps. If they appear ripped or torn avoid that pump.
It's also up to gas station owners to be vigilant, like Angelo Marino.
"Every morning I open up the pumps and I look at it because it happened one time, so since then I do it every day," Marino said.
In the meantime, know that law enforcement like Hollywood police and state inspectors are out there checking gas station pumps in an effort to crackdown on skimmer scams.
"It is a trend that is growing," Vanegas said. "Always make sure you are checking your accounts on a daily basis so you catch it early."
In a statewide sweep last summer, state inspectors uncovered more than 100 skimmers. South Florida had the highest number found at that time, with 16 discovered in Miami-Dade County alone.
Hollywood police said they inspected more than 30 gas stations Friday and did not find any skimmers.