Gas-pump card skimming continues to be a concern during the pandemic, as fraudulent payment transactions jumped 23% year over year in 2020, according to Forbes. Here’s what you need to know about how the scam works, and why you should avoid paying with a debit card when fueling up.
What is card skimming?
Card skimming is when a thief uses a small device to steal your credit or debit card information when it’s used for a normal transaction, like buying gas at the pump. When the card is swiped, the device steals the banking information stored in the magnetic stripe—your account number, full name, the card’s expiration date, and the country code. Sometimes these devices will also contain a pinhole camera or a fake keypad which will also steal your PIN.
Older gas pumps are particularly vulnerable to card skimming as they rely on technology that only reads the magnetic stripe data on a card (even if the card has a chip). The chance of having your card skimmed increases when the gas station isn’t monitored by cameras, gas attendants or other customers.
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Gas pumps are getting an upgrade
Fortunately, credit card companies have required fuel merchants to upgrade their pumps so that they follow the “EMV standard” (which stands for Europay, Mastercard, Visa), which relies on scanning the chip in your card, not the magnetic stripe. To encourage compliance, the new standard shifts the liability for a fraudulent transaction from the credit card company to the merchant if the machines are not upgraded. The deadline for compliance was last October, but has been pushed to April 2021 due to the pandemic.
Fuel merchants have been slow to adopt these new standards, so it’s unlikely that all gas stations will be compliant by the deadline. However, the chance of theft should decrease once the standard is more widely adopted.
How to avoid getting skimmed at the gas pump
In the meantime, your safest bet is to simply not use any card at the gas pump, period. Instead, pay inside the gas station, ideally one with a chip reader at the terminal.
If you’re going to pay at the pump, however, at least consider using a credit card instead of a debit card. Debit cards don’t have the same zero-liability fraud policy as credit cards, and a compromised debit card can take weeks or months to sort out. Worse, you likely won’t see that stolen cash returned for some time.
Otherwise, trust your gut at pump payment terminals: If it doesn’t look right, use another pump—or even try another gas station.
This story was originally published in 2019 and updated on Feb. 8, 2021 with new information.
