(Elkhart County, IN) - An Indiana State Police trooper apprehended a couple of credit card fraudsters and their equipment.

A routine traffic stop of a 2023 Chrysler on the Indiana Toll Road near Elkhart turned into something a little bigger last Tuesday.

Police discovered that the car was stolen and in it was equipment for credit card skimming, along with gift cards to load stolen credit card information onto. Skimming involves crooks using various gadgets to steal credit card info at points of purchase.

The occupants of the car, both juveniles, were taken into custody.

Police offer the following advice to avoid credit card skimming:

• Pay inside, if possible.
• Use the tap-to-pay function.
• Use a credit card instead of a debit card.
• Cover the keypad when typing your zip code or PIN. Fraudsters often use a pinhole camera to capture this information.
• Look to see that the security tape is not broken on the pump in the area of the card reader, suggesting skimming equipment may be inside the machine.