Police say they caught Rafael De Los Rios red handed as part of a credit card skimming operation. 
YOANDY CENDEO PENA
Two men were caught attaching a card-skimming device to a gas pump on Highway 153 and are believed to be part of an organized crime ring operating in multiple states.
Rafael De Los Rios, 36, and Yoandy Cendeo Pena, 34, are both residents of Tampa, Fla., and authorities said the odds of catching someone committing such a crime in the act are “astronomical.”
The suspects were first seen by an officer at noon Tuesday when he pulled into a lot on Highway 153. The officer saw Rios, who allegedly had his hand in the access panel of a pump at the Mapco gas station, said Chattanooga police Sgt. Craig Joel.
“The odds are right up there with a meteor strike,” Joel said.
Rios saw the officer and jumped into a white U-Haul van parked at the pump. He then turned onto Gadd Road and stopped at a red light. The officer drove over to the pump and inspected it, seeing the red security tape had been cut off the access panel.
The officer heard the squeal of tires and saw the U-Haul van speeding away, so he pursued the suspects and stopped them on Berean Lane. The pair cooperated and admitted they did not work for Mapco.
During a patdown of Rafael, the officer found cocaine and a small key, which was later found to open the computer area of the gas pump. A piece of wire police believe was being used to skim card information from gas pumps was apparently thrown from the van and was found in a parking lot.
Investigators hope that a laptop retrieved from the van also will help identify victims and other potential leads in the case, but the U.S. Treasury Department will be handling the case moving forward.
The arrests come less than two weeks after two other skimming devices were found on gas pumps at local Mapco stations on Jan. 25.
Joel said the suspects’ willingness to operate in broad daylight was a testament to the difficulty of catching such criminals and the ease with which technologically savvy scammers can steal personal information.
He said the suspects were using a Bluetooth connection to retrieve information, including personal identification numbers, or PINs, and could do so relatively quickly after installing the bypass device.
“Wherever there is profit to be found, you will find people who innovate,” he said. “There’s always room for competition when it comes to crime.”
Despite the craftiness of certain scammers, Joel said there are basic practices that cardholders can adopt to make sure they don’t get caught in a net. He said it is usually best to pay inside, but if you are going to pay outside, use credit to avoid revealing a PIN.
Beyond that, customers should pay careful attention to what devices they’re using to enter their information. If the safety seal is broken or the keypad seems unnatural, alert an employee.
Sgt. Becky Crites with the Chattanooga Police Department’s fraud unit said issues of fraud are becoming increasingly common as people rely on their cards more every year.
“A lot of people don’t carry cash anymore,” she said. “But we have to make it harder for these criminals.”
Crites said her unit has found a handful of skimming devices so far this year with one found in 2016, but the methods used by scammers are many and varied. She said they’ll do everything from cold-call victims to show up in person, so vigilance is key.
“They target the elderly especially,” she said. “If you are family of elderly people, you need to check on them.”
Common-sense actions like locking the car and making sure your purse is close at hand in the checkout line would prevent a good chunk of the fraud activity that has come to plague modern citizens.
Beyond that, people should check their accounts frequently, use good passwords and generally avoid giving criminal opportunists a golden ticket, especially when sliding a card.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.