U.S. Secret Service agents spent this week fanning out across Tarrant County, quietly opening up gas pumps, peering at ATMs and checking store card readers for hidden skimming devices that siphon off customers’ bank accounts and government benefits. The sweep doubled as a crash course for clerks and owners, with agents giving on-the-spot lessons in how to spot and yank the gadgets before thieves can cash in.
Over two days, agents hit more than 200 stores and inspected more than 400 gas pumps, according to officials. Ten teams worked their way through over 1,500 cash registers, ATMs and pumps. Skimmers, which fit over card readers and can be cheaply made, can net thieves as much as $1 million and frequently show up at businesses that serve Electronic Benefit Transfer customers, the Secret Service told local reporters, as reported by CBS Texas.
FOX 4 reporter Shaun Rabb captured video of agents walking into neighborhood shops and walking staff through how crooks attach and remove devices at pumps and registers. The station reported that Tarrant County was the focus this week as part of a broader push to shield vulnerable benefit recipients from having their accounts drained. See FOX 4 for the report.
Why EBT Users Are At Risk
Investigators say thieves like EBT and other benefit cards because the old-school magnetic-stripe transactions are easier to skim than chip or tap payments. Nationwide, the Secret Service ran 22 similar skimming outreach operations in 2025, visiting more than 9,000 businesses and inspecting nearly 60,000 terminals. Agents removed 411 illegal devices and estimated they headed off about $428.1 million in potential fraud, according to Homeland Preparedness News.
How To Spot A Skimmer And Who To Call
The Secret Service urges shoppers to give card readers a quick once-over before swiping or inserting a card. Look for loose or wobbly parts, tape or glue residue, or anything that makes one pump or terminal look different from the others at the same location. If something seems off, do not use that reader. Instead, alert the merchant, contact local law enforcement, then reach out to your bank or card issuer to report possible fraud. Those consumer tips were outlined in coverage of the agency’s outreach, as reported by KCBD.
"We didn't know how they do it, but he's explaining to me, and we're going to be careful from now on," store owner Abdul Mohammed said after agents walked his staff through what to watch for. The Tarrant County sweep is one piece of an ongoing Secret Service effort to rip out skimmers and safeguard both taxpayer money and benefit dollars, according to local coverage from FOX 4.
