BEWARE stealing credit card #s at gas pumps

[credit-hunter]

Thirteen suspects have been indicted in New York on a gas station skimming scheme that netted them more than $2 million, according to court documents.

The skimming devices, placed on card readers at gas station pumps throughout the southern U.S., recorded credit and debit card data, as well as PINs, which the thieves then used to withdraw more than $2 million from ATMs. They then tried to launder the money through at least 70 different bank accounts, according to the district attorney’s office in New York County.

Some of the skimming devices were placed on pumps at Raceway and Racetrac gas stations throughout Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina. The devices were Bluetooth enabled, so the thieves could simply download the stolen data from the skimming device without having to remove it.

[gdale6]

Yep, I always check for skimmers at gas pumps & ATMs

[KaLin]

Good advice!!  A friend of mine was the victim of a "skim artist" and got taken for over $5,000 and had to fight tooth and nail to get her money back.  It took over 6 months to be fully reimbursed what she lost.

[Open123]

These days, I actually prefer the Gas stations who offer a discount for using cash (safer), which many times would save more than the rewards would earn. 

[Roarmeister]

Move to EMV enabled cards and dramatically lower the likelihood of being skimmed.

[Anonymous]

Not sure how to look for skimmers.  Are they that obvious?

I checked my bank account yesterday and there was a $90 charge from the local Shell station.  I had been there after everything else in town was closed and got gas.  That showed up along with the $90s.  Even when gas was $4.00 a gallon, my vehicle doesn't hold that much gas.

Needless to say I was mad and found out from others that it happens there frequently.  I won't be going back.

[credit-hunter]

They open the pump housing with a key and install it inside u will never know its there it can be operated wirelessly and via a Bluetooth device some times station employees are involved.

[IOBA]

guiness56 - was it a pending $90 charge or had it finalized?  A lot of times the gas stations will pre-authorize a high amount (sometimes as much as $150).  Then the actual charge will go through and become finalized for whatever my final purchase price was.   The pending charge will hang around (visible to me) for 7-8 days.  Then it falls off.  My cc company says that anything not finalized after 7 full days will be automatically removed on the 8th day.  Depending on where I go for gas, it often appears that I have two charges for the same purchase.

Amazon and Dell charge my cc 2-3x for the same purchase.  One will get finalized and the other "two" will eventually fall off on the 8th day.  Absolutely NO reason for them to get 2-3 authorizations for a single purchase, but they do.

I hope that is what has happened to you.  That the $90 charge is really still pending...waiting for the 8th day to disappear.

[Anonymous]

Wow.  I guess I am paying in cash from now on.

[Anonymous]

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@IOBA wrote:

@Anonymous - was it a pending $90 charge or had it finalized?  A lot of times the gas stations will pre-authorize a high amount (sometimes as much as $150).  Then the actual charge will go through and become finalized for whatever my final purchase price was.   The pending charge will hang around (visible to me) for 7-8 days.  Then it falls off.  My cc company says that anything not finalized after 7 full days will be automatically removed on the 8th day.  Depending on where I go for gas, it often appears that I have two charges for the same purchase.

Amazon and Dell charge my cc 2-3x for the same purchase.  One will get finalized and the other "two" will eventually fall off on the 8th day.  Absolutely NO reason for them to get 2-3 authorizations for a single purchase, but they do.

I hope that is what has happened to you.  That the $90 charge is really still pending...waiting for the 8th day to disappear.

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It was pending until it cleared that night, along with the actual charge for my gas.  It was on my debit card and they clear quickly.

I have seen them overauthorize before but this was different.  There were 2 separate charges at 2 different times.

I am printing my bank statement and taking it in to the gas station tomorrow.