MIAMI - The U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Special Investigations Unit, the City of Miami Police Department, Miami Gardens, Miami Beach, Aventura, Doral, Hialeah, Wilson Manors, North Miami Beach, Hollywood, Sunny Isles, and Coral Gables Police Departments, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office conducted a payment card skimming and Electronic Benefit Transfer fraud outreach operation in various cities throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida July 23-24, 2025.
Law enforcement personnel visited 613 businesses to check for and remove illegal skimming devices from ATMs, gas pumps, and point-of-sale terminals. Ten skimming devices were recovered during the operation preventing an estimated potential loss of $12.4 million. In total, more than 3,564 point-of-sale terminals, 785 gas pumps, and 373 ATMs were inspected.
Law enforcement personnel also distributed educational materials about EBT fraud and skimming to businesses to help them better identify the warning signs of illegal skimming devices in their point-of-sale terminals, gas pumps, and ATMs.
Criminals steal EBT and other payment card numbers by installing illegal skimming devices on ATMs, gas pumps, and merchant point-of-sale terminals. Criminals use skimming to capture card information from EBT cards and then encode that data onto another card with a magnetic strip, such as a hotel key. It is estimated that skimming losses cost financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year.
Law enforcement agencies have reported a nationwide increase in skimming, particularly targeting EBT cards. EBT fraud targets the nation’s most vulnerable communities. Each month, money is deposited into government assistance accounts intended to help families pay for food and other basic household items. The consistent timing of EBT deposits enables criminals who steal card information to align their fraudulent withdrawals and purchases around the monthly deposits.
There are several precautions consumers can take to protect themselves:
- Inspect ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, and other card readers before using. Look for anything loose, crooked, damaged, or scratched. Don't use a card reader if you notice anything unusual.
- If you use a debit card at a gas station, run it as a credit card instead of entering a PIN. This protects the PIN, and the money isn’t deducted immediately from your account. If that’s not an option, cover your hand when entering your PIN. Scammers sometimes use tiny pinhole cameras situated above the keypad to record PIN entries. Use ATMs in a well-lit, indoor location, which are less vulnerable targets.
- Be alert for skimming devices in tourist areas, which are popular targets.
- Use debit and credit cards with chip technology. In the U.S., there are fewer skimming devices that steal chip data versus magnetic strip data.
# # #