VIDEO: https://youtu.be/RqRrEJ4NI7s

WASHINGTON ' Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall questioned acting Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen about whether the FTC is taking appropriate steps to protect New Mexicans and Americans from having their credit cards compromised by card "skimmers" at the gas pump. Udall's questioning came in response to multiple reports of skimming at Albuquerque gas stations, as covered by KRQE, KOB and other news outlets. Albuquerque police believe that 22 card skimmers were installed at gas pumps across the city.

The "skimmers are hidden - and can be especially hard to spot if you're in a hurry to fill up your car with gas," Udall said during the hearing, passing out images from KRQE and KOB news reports to illustrate the devices being used. "Other skimmers are more sophisticated, and read credit card information wirelessly." He noted that a Russian company sells this type of skimmer on its website, and gives clear directions to scammers about how to steal credit card information.

"The FTC previously issued a warning to Americans traveling abroad to be alert for card skimmers at ATMs and gas stations. But these scams are now happening in New Mexico and across the nation," Udall continued. "What action will the FTC take to help stop credit card skimming scams at the gas pump?"

Ohlhausen responded that "It is happening across the country...it is a problem, and we have issued consumer education for consumers - to tell them to be alert for things where it looks like it's been affixed over top of the regular card reader. We give consumers advice about covering [it] up with their hand as they're putting in their PIN number. I certainly hope that as credit cards move toward the PIN and chip technology, that might help reduce the issue."

Ohlhausen continued, "You also raise the point about the website selling this. I will certainly look into it ' It's possible that it could be reached under our unfairness authority. We have a three part unfairness test. But one of the challenges is, when things are sold abroad, it can be difficult, sometimes, for us to get authority over a foreign seller. But we can certainly see what we can find out."

"We hope you'll work with the state attorneys general to try and shut this down," Udall said.

As attorney general of New Mexico, Udall fought against fraudulent telemarketers who targeted senior citizens. As Udall said, state attorneys general "were one of the key forces" behind passing a federal law to allow states to prosecute telemarketers who call across state lines. "Technology evolves, and con artists adapt and deploy new techniques. Scammers also seem to quickly find ways to abuse Internet technologies," Udall said.