By Stephanie Prokop, Staff Writer
FLORENCE—A gas station attendant at the Wawa on Route 130 and Cedar Lane has been charged with identity theft after police said he used a handheld scanning device to obtain customers’ personal information.
Another attendant found the scanning device in the man’s work jacket, police said.
An investigation by both township police and the U.S. Secret Service revealed that Tony Tucker, 27, of Iron Street, had been using the handheld device to obtain customers’ credit card information.
Authorities are still trying to determine if any of the information that was taken from the victims has been used to make illegal purchases.
Florence Police Chief Stephen Fazekas said Monday at least 40 victims were identified in the scam, and police are currently trying to contact them.
“Right now the victims are in the process of talking to their credit card companies to see if there (were) any suspicious purchases made without their authorization,” he said.
If they do find unusual charges, they are encouraged to let the police department know of them. Police said they have been contacting all of the people who may have been affected.
Mr. Tucker was arrested while at work Friday and transported to Florence police headquarters, where he is currently lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly in lieu of $30,000 bail.
Police said Monday they could determine that Mr. Tucker had used the device, although they do not know how long he had allegedly been using the scanner to obtain personal information.
Authorities said that the investigation is ongoing, and they are still trying to determine if there were any accomplices in the identity theft case.
Chief Fazekas added that although he has not seen a complete list of all of the purchases made when the victims’ information was taken, he is certain that most, if not all, occurred when they were purchasing gas.

