Credit card skimmer found on Lee County ‘sheriff approved’ gas pump

Deputies with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office found a credit card skimmer at a Mobil gas station off of Daniels Parkway Monday, inside a supposedly screwed-tight pump.

But it’s what’s on the pump that has drivers we talked to saying things like this: “Oh! That’s not good. That’s troubling,” said Jennifer Quesenberry of Fort Myers.

The Lee County Sheriff’s sticker of approval sits on each of the pumps at the gas station.

Since May, all pumps in Lee County must have a special lock or technology to keep skimmers out.

The sticker is supposed to mean it’s safe. That’s what Sheriff Carmine Marceno said back in July.

So every single pump in the unincorporated areas will have a sticker that shows you are safe.

“If they’ve put in a new ordinance, something that supposed to keep us safe and it’s not, that means the criminals are smarter than the people protecting us right now,” said James Bias of Lee County.

We asked the Sheriff’s Office how their sticker ended up on a pump with a skimmer inside.

In an email, they wrote in part:

When our detectives put the LCSO sticker on the gas pumps, they are checking to see if the pump is in compliance with Ordinance no. 19-09. This isn’t an inspection for a skimmer.

“It’s worrisome because you look for that when you get up to the pump. You’re looking for that… to feel safe,” said Quesenberry.

We responded back to that email and referred to the sheriff’s statement from July where he said the sticker shows you that you’re safe.

We asked: If detectives are not checking for skimmers before they put a sticker on the pump, how can what the sheriff said be true?

We have yet to hear back.