Occupation Protests & Skimmer Scam

The armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is seeing a lot of protests and one in particular from a rather unlikely source, The Audubon Society of Portland. There is concern from the Audubon Society that the occupation may hurt the wildlife refuge. The Audubon rally was held at Portland's Halladay Park while other rallies were held in La Grange, Bend and Eugene. A meeting held Tuesday evening in Burns brought many cries from attendees to "go home." There was also concern and anger from many that the FBI, who has taken the lead on the occupation, has done nothing to end the standoff. A rally was held yesterday in Boise by bird lovers protesting the takeover.

Scam artists are targeting gas stations to get your personal information. Inspectors with the Oregon Department of Agriculture are trying to make it more difficult for these con artists to use skimmers that pull credit card information off gas pumps. Josh Nelson is field supervisor of ODA's Weights and Measures Program.

NELSON:  As part of our routine inspections, we've been trained to look for these types of skimming devices while we are inspecting the gas pump for things such as accuracy, other equipment functions, and security seals. Since we are in it already, we are now looking for these devices on the card readers. Our staff has been trained on what they look like and have protocol in place on what to do if they do find one.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.