U.S. Secret Service-Led Skimming Operation Targets Fraud in the Pacific Northwest

PORTLAND, OR - The U.S. Secret Service, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Seattle Police Department, and the Portland Police Department, conducted a successful and widespread payment card skimming outreach operation across three cities over the past week.

Joint Operation Pacific Northwest took place October 20-27th in Seattle, Anchorage and Portland. Secret Service analysts, agents and personnel from our partner agencies visited 463 businesses, leaving educational materials and inspecting 822 point-of sale terminals, 720 gas pumps and 267 ATMs.

While no skimmers were found during the searches, the operation is considered a significant success because of the vast number of business owners who were taught how to identify illegal skimming devices that can be covertly installed by criminals.

"This operation demonstrates the U.S. Secret Service's unwavering commitment to safeguarding businesses and consumers from the growing threat of payment card skimming and EBT fraud," said U.S. Secret Service Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Peck. "We've seen the devastating financial ramifications these criminal acts have on innocent, law-abiding citizens, and we're grateful for the commitment of our partners at the USDA, Seattle Police Department and Portland Police Department for making this outreach effort so impactful."

United States Department of Agriculture Inspector General John Walk assisted one of the teams as they searched for skimmers and educated business owners. He said, "It was great to join the Secret Service in Portland as part of Joint Operation Pacific Northwest to go after SNAP fraud by skimming. Skimming steals from unsuspecting SNAP recipients. A single illicit skimmer in a retail location can be used to rob multitudes of low-income victims of taxpayer funded food assistance. Thanks to our agents and the Secret Service for the good work to tackle this fraud in Seattle, Anchorage and Portland."

This effort mirrors similar Secret Service-led outreach operations that have taken place in 76 other cities across the United States.

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.

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