Meridian (670 KBOI News) – When you pop your credit or debit card into the card skimmer at the gas station, do you really look at the card slot first?

Thieves are betting you don’t.

Ed Fritz with Crimestoppers says they’ve found three more card skimmers at gas stations in Meridian, and whether or not they are successful depends on you.

He says there are telltale signs that you can see if you just pay attention.

“Some stations will use sticky tape to show this hasn’t been tampered with,” said Fritz.  “Has that been peeled off?  Can you see if it’s been manipulated ?  The actual doors on the pump itself, where you can get into the mechanism, have those been tampered with, or not shut fully?  Are there signs on the pump, right there, that just don’t seem right?”

He says with the Christmas shopping season getting ready to start, people will probably be busy thinking about everything but using safe gas pumps and A-T-Ms, but they need to keep security foremost in mind.

Also, he says thieves will be looking for cars full of Christmas presents to break into, so keep them hidden, or just take them home.