Secret Service sweeps Portland gas pumps and stores for card skimmers, none found (Oct. 27)
Updated 10:40 p.m. PT Oct. 27. Secret Service agents wrapped a two-day Portland sweep of gas pumps, ATMs and store card readers; no active skimmers were found.
Quick Read
U.S. Secret Service agents, working with the USDA and local law enforcement including the Portland Police Bureau, spent about two days this week checking Portland-area businesses for illegal card-skimming devices as part of Joint Operation Pacific Northwest.
Teams visited 238 businesses and inspected 377 point-of-sale terminals, 156 ATMs and 375 gas pumps. No active skimmers were found during the sweep.
Agents showed KATU residue from a skimmer already removed from a gas pump before they arrived, and warned that overlays can steal magstripe or chip data and PINs, including from chip-less Oregon Trail EBT cards.
Officials recommend looking for glue, tape, thick or shifted terminals and broken seals; prefer tap-to-pay; and report anything suspicious to the business or police.
PORTLAND, Ore. - U.S. Secret Service agents inspected hundreds of Portland gas pumps, ATMs and store terminals this week for illegal card-skimming devices that steal payment data from drivers and shoppers. No live skimmers turned up in the sweep, but agents showed residue from one already pulled off a gas pump and urged people to check for tape, glue and odd-looking readers before they pay.
KATU rode along Tuesday as agents checked card readers at gas stations, convenience stores and other businesses. Watch and read the station's reporting here: KATU: Secret Service checks Portland businesses for skimming devices.
What happened
The Portland checks were part of an eight-day Pacific Northwest push, Joint Operation Pacific Northwest, that also took agents to Washington and Alaska, according to KATU and FOX 12. Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Peck said the Secret Service worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and local law enforcement on outreach and inspections, not a raid-style enforcement sweep.
"We're not enforcing anything," Peck told KATU. "What we're doing is outreach."
The Secret Service said agents visited 238 businesses and inspected 377 point-of-sale terminals, 156 ATMs and 375 gas pumps in the Portland area. No devices were found during the operation, the agency said.
"While no skimmers were found, we still consider this operation a success because of the large number of business owners/managers we were able to educate through our outreach," said Marci Rand, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Secret Service, according to KATU.
How the devices work
Skimming devices are often overlays designed to fit over a payment terminal, keypad or chip slot. They can look like the original equipment and capture data from a card's magnetic stripe or chip, plus keypad entries such as a PIN, KATU reported from Secret Service pamphlets distributed during the operation.
Peck said some devices use batteries that stay installed for extended periods, and criminals can retrieve stolen information remotely.
"They don't have to go back for them because they can come in and Bluetooth download the data that has been stolen," Peck told KATU.
Agents emphasize that while criminals often target EBT and SNAP card numbers because stolen benefits can be cashed out quickly, the same devices also capture credit and debit card data at pumps and stores. Oregon Trail Cards still lack chips, according to an Oregon Department of Human Services spokesperson cited by KATU and KGW; ODHS plans a chipped-card pilot for 1,000 cardholders in December and statewide mailings in early 2027.
"Sadly, we are facing an epidemic across our country and in our partner countries to where transactional organized crime groups are coming in specifically to steal from benefit recipients," Peck said, according to FOX 12. "They know that these programs have cash and they want to target them."
What to look for
During inspections, agents looked for security features that appeared out of place and terminals that seemed thicker than others.
"You're looking for the glue. You're looking for the tape," Peck told KATU. He also recommended watching for a shifted security sticker or a terminal that looks different from the day before.
Secret Service guidance, as reported by local stations, includes:
Check plastic edges of payment terminals and keypads for signs of tampering, glue or tape residue.
Avoid terminals that look thicker than usual, shifted, or different from the day before.
Do not use a terminal with a broken, removed or missing security seal, or a loose privacy shield.
Prefer tap-to-pay when available, or a chip card if contactless is not an option; avoid swiping when you can.
If something looks wrong, skip that reader and tell the business or call police.
Nationwide context
Peck told KATU the agency's nationwide anti-skimming operations have removed more than 700 skimmers and prevented just under $1 billion in fraud losses since the financial crimes mission began in 2024. KGW quoted him saying the agency has run just over 70 operations from Anchorage to Miami. Local outlets sometimes cite different device-count figures for overlapping periods; Willamette News is using Peck's on-camera totals as reported by KATU.
Local notes
A 7-Eleven on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard told KATU it reported a skimmer to police last year. KOIN reported that Supermercado in southeast Portland had a skimmer earlier this year that was noticed after customers said EBT accounts were emptied. Those are earlier incidents, not discoveries from this week's sweep, which found no active devices.
Sources
KATU: Secret Service checks Portland businesses for skimming devices, shares tips to spot them (Oct. 27, 2026)
KPTV FOX 12: Secret Service visits hundreds of Portland businesses in card skimming crackdown (Oct. 27, 2026)
KGW: Secret Service seeks out card skimmers in Portland, educates local business owners (Oct. 27, 2026)
KOIN: Secret Service comes to Portland to crack down on skimming devices (Oct. 2026)
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