Ah, nothing says “Merry Christmas, y’all” like DPS gently reminding West Texans that organized criminal groups are currently treating our convenience stores and dollar stores like their own personal ATM manufacturing plants. According to law enforcement, skimmers have been found in Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, and Abilene—basically a scenic tour of everywhere your debit card goes to die.
The big safety tips? Wiggle the card slot. Wiggle the keypad. Inspect the pump. In other words, every gas station errand is now an episode of CSI: Allsup’s. DPS also recommends not using debit cards—which is hilarious, considering half the dollar stores they mentioned don’t even have tap-to-pay, and the other half have the machine duct-taped together from 2014.
As if that’s not festive enough, they also warn about Warrant Scams and Bank Account Scams—where a Very Official Law Enforcement™ impersonator contacts you and demands payment via the three most reputable financial tools known to man: gift cards, prepaid cards, and cryptocurrency. DPS helpfully clarifies that real police do not take Apple gift cards as payment, which is honestly something we should not need to say out loud in the year 2025.
Meanwhile, the agencies vow they’re “committed to protecting West Texans,” which apparently means posting YouTube links and hoping we learn to wiggle stuff before we swipe. Somewhere out there, a scammer is reading this press release and thinking, “Great, now they’re onto the wiggle trick.”
At this point, is it really holiday shopping in West Texas if you don’t leave the store wondering whether you just paid for gas—or funded someone’s new crypto startup?
https://www.kcbd.com/2025/12/10/texas-dps-warning-about-credit-card-skimmers-warrant-scams/