Point-of-sale skimming sanctions approved by public safety committee

When at a gas station in his district, Rep. Bob Loonan (R-Shakopee) noticed another park their vehicle at an angle between a pair of pumps.

The awkwardness led Loonan to keep a watchful eye on the driver.

“He was blocking the view of the cashiers to the outside two pumps,” Loonan said. “It looked like he was getting down to check his tire as if it was flat or something, and I realized he was facing the pump, not facing the vehicle. As quick as he could take a key and open up the front of it, he reached in and put something in there and closed it back up and was long gone.”

Rep. Bob Loonan

Sponsored by Loonan, HF817 would expand the state’s unauthorized computer access crime to include interference with point-of-sale terminals to collect information from debit, credit or similar cards.

It was approved Tuesday by the House Public Safety and Security Policy and Finance Committee and sent to the House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee. There is no Senate companion.

“A skimmer is a device that will capture identifying information off of their card,” Loonan said. “The problem we’re trying to solve here is that we have people at an organized crime level accessing ATM machines, but more prevalent accessing gasoline pumps.”

The bill would make it a felony to access “an electronic terminal through opening any panel or access door without authorization and placing or attaching an electronic device to capture, store, or communicate access device information.” Simply opening the access door without authorization would be a gross misdemeanor.

John McCullough is a volunteer with the Financial and Retailers Protection Association.

“We want to try and make it a deterrent as well as give law enforcement the tools they need to deal with these individuals,” he said, noting criminals are also cutting holes in ATM machines for access.