Thread: Careful With Your Card When Gassing Up

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Just read last night where some people in California had written checks only to find out they had no money in the account. Seems they traced it to some person who had came up with a card reader that he could stand as far away from you as 10' and it would read your card and code as it was scanned into the pump. Then he would go sell them to anyone for a price and they would of course rush out and buy all the gas they wanted at the card holders expense. Stations are now telling people to look for anyone near them and watching and to cup the card in their hand completely so that none of it can show. Why don't they use that ability to do something good?

Ron

apparently some of those clowns are using their cells to snap a picture of your card info too if it remains exposed long enough, say on the counter for a moment before you pick it up.

We had a similar problem here a while back where people were putting some kind of reading device into the slot where you put your card at the pump and it would retain your info, then the thief would come back and retrieve the reader later on. I haven't seen that happen for a while.

A few years ago I noticed my bank account was a little lower than it should be so I started going over my bank statement. Found that someone had charged approximately $ 500 on my debit card, charges like $ 60 for pizza delivery, $ 50 for Chinese food delivery, and a zillion phone calls. Being an old bill collector I did some detective work and found out a girl had stayed at a local Days Inn for a weekend and had used my card for all those purchases. She evidently got my information because I routinely would toss away my lunch receipt and at that time some businesses put all your info on the receipt (now it just shows the last four numbers of your CC #)

I turned over a complete file to the local police. I had a photocopy of her drivers license that the Days Inn gave to me, the pizza delivery guy and Chinese delivery guys were willing to testify, and I even gave them her home address. You know what came out of it? NOTHING!! They basically told me that they were familiar with her but that they had bigger crimes to deal with. Luckily, my bank refunded my money.

That is why these people do this kind of stuff with no fear.

Don

Don,

Last night I spent 4 hours in the safety/qualification class and we were talking about the lack of police interference with criminals. Here if they break into your house they want you to mail in a report and they won't even send a unit to the house. Then they went to far and had to retract this. If an alarm goes off, they wanted the person to go in and verify that there was an intruder and that he or she was actually taking something, then call them and they may respond if they had time. I told them to not worry about a squad car, to just send the corner when he had time to haul them away as did about a hundred others so they changed that. Now last night they asked me if I would be willing to work both days of the weekend teaching people who have never shot a gun before how to shoot one. Guess what they were. People the dam state has hired as security guards for the dams and other priority targets. Why in He** can't they hire some of the vets that know how to shoot instead of these power happy, ego manics that think they are God because they get to carry a gun once someone shows them how to load and fire it.

Sorry for the long rant. It is just that subject is a very touchy one around this area. And now with them trying to pass the ammunition ban, things have really gone crazy.

Ron

Originally Posted by Ron75

Just read last night where some people in California had written checks only to find out they had no money in the account.
Ron

Well, I just filled up the '51.....now there's no money left in the account. With gas prices where they're at there are no bucks left for the thieves.

Yea, you sound like me. It took $18 dollars for me to fill my lawnmower. I should give the thieves my check book and if they can get anything out of it, split it with them.

Ron

I know this would be a little on the paranoid side but if you had a paddle or something covered with aluminum foil. Hold it between you and the card when you put the credit card in the slot, I don’t think they could scan it if they were behind you.

I have hear of people passing the card twice once for your purchase and once for their friend down road with some sort of device to get the numbers.

Richard

yes, i seen this its actually pretty simple. they sell card readers, like whats in the machine. you can supposedly be able to walk by some one and get all their credit card info.

Most of the stories about remote reading are not true and cannot be true....Bob's posting about the picture phone is true.

The mag stripe on a credit card is a very weak force. If the darned card could be read from a foot away, the merchant readers would also read from a foot away since it would be significantly more convenient. There is no commercially available reader that can read a credit card from a foot or more. However, there are RF tags that can be read from greater distance...they include the anti theft tag stuff that sounds the alarm when you try to go thru the door of the speed shop with a camshaft stuck down your pants....or the mag tag on the high dollar stuff at Home Depot....the tag has an antenna embedded in it.

hmmm, i guess that whole segment on cnn or 48 hours (one of the 2) was wrong

Are you sure it wasnt on CSI:NY?

also, here is a link that has some info

http://www.policemag.com/Forums/Gene...-rfid/297.aspx

There is such as thing called "skimming" but it involves a rfid chip in a credit card, not a mag stripe.....rfid cards CAN be read from a further distance...in fact, the gate opener in our neighborhood is an rfid card but it has a antenna so that it works from 50 feet.

Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

hmmm, i guess that whole segment on cnn or 48 hours (one of the 2) was wrong

Cause the media never lies right?

One of the problems, is ID theft is so rampant, there are not enough police to investigate all of the cases. I was a victim 6 years ago and have still heard nothing about the case.

One of the problems is, when the banks pays you your money back, you are no longer a victim. The bank becomes the victim and they don't prosecute.

When Wells Fargo took over First Interstate, someone at First Interstate was draining my account. I went to the bank and explained the circumstances. I believe that employees of First Interstate were getting laid off so an employee was stealing the money. Plus, some of the transactions could only be done by an insider. The bank agreed and said they would show me the ATM videos.

When the money was refunded, I asked to see the videos of the suspect. The bank said, no. I was no longer a victim. I asked the bank if they would prosecute the suspect, as I was willing to testify. The bank said no, it was bad publicity.