Why you should not use credit cards to pay for gas at the pump

The other day I got a text message asking me if I just made a large purchase using my credit card. I had not, so I was immediately concerned and suspicious. I ran to check my wallet thinking maybe I lost my credit card, but it was still there. I wasn't sure if the text was a scam or if it was actually from the credit card company, so I log into my account and sure enough there was a charge that I did not make.

Immediately, I call up the credit card company and let them know that someone is making fraudulent charges on my card. They reviewed the details with me and were able to cancel the card. They said they would send me out a new card and that I would not be responsible for the charge. That was a relief, but still I wanted to figure out how this happened.

Usually I am very careful with things like this so I found it odd that someone used my credit card considering it was still in my possession. The agent from the credit card company said it was swiped at a grocery store which means somehow someone got my credit card number and created a duplicate counterfeit card.

From doing research, it looks like this would have happened by something called skimming. This is when someone puts a card reading device on or in a place where credit cards are used such as at gas pumps, ATM's, car washes etc. Any place where cards are swiped in an unattended location have a possibility that someone my have put a skimmer there to steal people's credit card information.

I usually only use my card at grocery stores and gas pumps, so with process of elimination, I'm pretty sure this happened by a skimmer at one of the gas stations I went to recently. Unfortunately it is hard to know when it happened as it could have been skimmed a few days ago or a few weeks ago.

While consumers are usually not held responsible for fraudulent charges made on their card when reported right away, it still causes a big inconvenience for the person whose card was stolen. I had to contact the credit card company, put a fraud alert on my credit, file a report with the FTC, and file a report with the police. Not to mention, I am going to be without a credit card for about a week until the new one arrives.

So as far as I'm concerned, I will no longer be paying with credit card at gas pumps or any unattended credit card swiping machines. Until these things are updated to be more secure, it is not worth the risk of having your credit card information stolen.

You may think, “This won't happen to me because I am careful and I always check the gas pump to make sure it doesn't have a skimmer attached.” I was like this too, but it still happened. From doing more research, I learned these card readers can be installed inside the machines so there is no way to know from the outside if they are compromised.

I recommend avoiding paying for gas at the pump with credit card to help prevent this from happening to you. Try to pay with cash, or if you are going to pay by card, go inside to the attendant and pay. Yes, it may be a little more inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as getting your credit card information stolen.