RT Article
T1 Skimmed at the Pump: How COVID-19 Lockdowns Increased Gas Pump Skimming
JF Crime & delinquency
VO 68
IS 8
SP 1207
OP 1222
A1 Belshaw, Scott H.
A2 Nodeland, Brooke
A2 Pratt, Travis
A2 Piquero, Nicole Leeper
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1839616237
AB Few schemes for monetizing stolen credit card data are as bold as the fuel theft scam. Skimming devices embedded inside gas pumps steal credit card data from customers which can be used to engage in any manner of illegal economic activities, however, empirical research on gas pump skimming is virtually non-existent. This study uses data from the State of Texas to examine the patterning of gas pump skimming, focusing on changes in prevalence in the months prior and the year following COVID-19 lockdowns being lifted in June 2020. Our findings suggest that (1) skimmer hits significantly increased after COVID-19 lockdowns and (2) that this ?COVID effect? persisted even when controlling for other structural characteristics, including theoretically-relevant factors such as the average price of gas.
K1 Covid
K1 gas prices
K1 gas pump skimming
K1 lockdowns
DO 10.1177/00111287221081028