AUSTIN, Texas — There are growing problems at the pumps.

“We’ve seen a major, major uptick in skimming activity - not only in the state of Texas, but across the country - as well in the past year," said Philip Wright, the administrator for agriculture and consumer protection at the Texas Department of Agriculture.

It's become so major that Travis County deputies want consumers to pay inside the gas station.

“I’m encouraging everybody to not use their credit cards at the gas pump,” said Captain Craig Smith of the Travis County Sherriff's Office.

While technology has given thieves an upper hand, technology can also take them down.

The Austin-based Wayne Fueling Systems began building kerosene dispensers in the 1800's. Now their newest gas terminals are equipped to scan chip credit cards, which are more secure than magnetic stripes. Their card readers are flush, making it harder to mount skimming devices. If it’s tampered with, the whole system will shut down.

“Payment security is especially important because it has to do with consumers financials and the fraud liability is high dollar to consider,” said Annika Birkler, a producer manager for Wayne.

Manufacturers encourage retailers to upgrade their credit card readers to chip readers. Major credit card companies have given gas stations until 2020 to do so. After that, merchants might be liable for potential fraud.

Gas companies have also developed their own cell phone apps as another payment option, so people can avoid taking out their credit cards.

Once the app is downloaded and credit card information is stored, users just put in the pump number.

Developers from the Colorado company SparkFun created an Android app called “Skimmer Scanner.” It detects if there Bluetooth transmissions near a gas pump, which are frequently used by skimmers to transmit credit card information.  An iOS version is in development.

“It’s cool that people are able to use their smart phones to stay out of trouble this way," said Nick Poole, a creative technologist for SparkFun. "We have really powerful computers in our pockets all the time, and it’s nice when we can use those things for good.”