U.S. Secret Service-Led Outreach Operation Nets Five Illegal Skimming Devices in Northern California

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Secret Service and multiple law enforcement partners conducted an Electronic Benefit Transfer Fraud and payment card skimming outreach operation in Sacramento and Napa Counties, California April 27-29.

Personnel visited 510 businesses and removed five skimming devices preventing an estimated potential loss of more than $5.2 million. More than 3,000 point-of sale terminals, gas pumps and ATMs were inspected.

Teams also distributed educational materials about Electronic Benefit Transfer 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 were inspected.

This outreach operation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, Napa County Sherrif's Department, U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

"Illegal card skimming has direct impacts on members of our community and the U.S. Secret Service is committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to combat this fraud," said Ryan Cole, Resident Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Sacramento Resident Office. "The goal of this operation was to find and remove skimming devices before card numbers can fall into the hands of criminals. I'm thankful for our partners for their participation in this operation."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General is dedicated to upholding the integrity of the EBT card system that is meant to assist needy American families who qualify for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Such outreach operations are important to help prevent fraudsters from using technology and complicated networks to defraud SNAP," said USDA OIG Special Agent in Charge Shawn Dionida. "We appreciate the close coordination with the U.S. Secret Service, HHS OIG, and all of our other partners on this joint effort to combat skimming operations and associated EBT fraud in Northern California. We will continue to work diligently with our partner agencies to help businesses identify potential fraud and ensure EBT cards are used only by those who qualify for and rely on these benefits to survive."

"When card-skimming schemes prey on TANF recipients, they do more than defraud taxpayers- they rob stability from households that depend on these benefits," said Special Agent in Charge Robb R. Breeden of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. "Working with our federal, state, and local partners, we are aggressively targeting the criminals behind these schemes - and we want skimmers to know: if you exploit vulnerable families, we will find you and we will stop you."

This effort mirrors similar Secret Service-led outreach operations that have been done throughout the country.

In 2025, law enforcement personnel removed more than 400 illegal skimming devices during these operations preventing an estimated potential fraud loss of more than $428 million. Criminals often steal EBT and other payment card numbers by installing illegal skimming devices on ATMs, gas pumps and merchant point-of-sale terminals. Scammers use skimming technology to capture card information from EBT cards and encode that data onto another card with a magnetic strip.

It is estimated that skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year.

There are several precautions consumers can take to protect themselves:

• Inspect ATMs, point-of-sale terminals and other card readers. Look for anything loose, crooked, damaged, or scratched. Do not use a card reader if anything appears unusual.
• Whenever possible, use tap-to-pay technology or use debit and credit cards with chip technology.
• If using a debit card at a gas station, run it as a credit card to avoid entering a PIN number. If that is not an option, consumers should use their hand to hide their PIN to block scammers who may be using tiny pinhole cameras above the keypad area to record 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.