It’s not a pleasant experience, and if you’ve been the owner of a debit card for 20+ years, there’s a great chance it’s happened to you.
Getting your debit card hacked at the gas pump.
You go to get gas, pay conveniently at the pump with your card. And then — the next time you check your bank statement, you have $100 or more dollars of charges you didn’t authorize for purchases you never made.
Or worse yet — you go to make another purchase only to have your card declined because those scammers drained your account!
It sucks. It makes you feel taken advantage of. Because you were.
Luckily, technology over the years has advanced a great deal and there are now a LOT of things we can do to keep this from happening. Still, I wanted to make a list for you today of some things you can do that will make getting hacked at the pump either impossible, or extremely unlikely.
I realize this is a little outside of what we normally post here at Real Ways to Earn, but it’s valuable information for anyone worried about theft and scams.
I want you to make money, but I also want you to keep it safe from things like this!
1. Use Cash
Yes — I realize I’m being very Captain Obvious saying just to use cash when you buy your gas. But this is literally the only real way to 100% ensure you won’t get hacked.
Keep cash on hand, and pay with it. No, it’s not as convenient because you do have to go in the store, but if you’ve had your card hacked enough times, the inconvenience will be worth it.
2. Use a Credit Card Instead of Your Debit Card
It’s a better option to use a credit card instead of a debit card at the pump. This is because when you are using your debit card and it gets hacked, the scammers are taking money that belongs to you.
When you use a credit card at the pump, the scammers are taking money that belongs to the credit card company. So you didn’t really lose YOUR money.
Also, filing a dispute over credit card fraud versus filing a dispute over debit card fraud is easier, and it’s much more likely to get the money back on the card because credit card companies will almost always just reverse the charges, no questions asked.
When you file a debit card dispute, the process takes longer and you just have to cross your fingers that your financial institution will rule in your favor. It can take 5-7 days to get the money back in your account, and this can be very problematic if you needed it to pay bills or get groceries and gas.
3. Use Your Gas Station’s Mobile App to Pay
Many gas stations — like Chevron and Exxon — now have mobile apps that will let you pay for your gas via the app. You don’t have to get your card physically out of your car at all!
Most of them work like this:
- Install the app and create an account
- Make sure to allow the app to access your location so it can know when you’re at the pump
- Go to the gas station and pull up to the pump
- Follow the instructions on the app to pay for your gas
- Pump your gas
- Leave!
Each app will work a little differently but that’s the gist of it. The app will have your card number stored, so you never have to insert it at the pump at all.
4. Tap to Pay When Possible
In the last few years, many financial institutions have started “tap to pay” where you just tap your card on the screen to pay for your purchases.
When getting gas at a pump, this is much safer than inserting your card into a slot, or sliding it. Most scammers who hack you at the pump do so with card skimmers that are inserted into the slot where you put your card.
If you’re not using a card skimmer, then it’s a lot harder for your card number and info to be stolen.
5. Do Not Enter Your Pin Number
Most gas pumps will give an option for you to bypass the pin if you press enter while you are paying for your gas. Always do this!
A scammer who gets your pin number can withdraw cash money from your card from anywhere, not just making purchases online.
Not providing your pin keeps the thieves from getting their hands on a valuable piece of your card information.
6. Run the Card as a Credit Card Even If It Isn’t One
If the screen on the pump prompts you to choose “debit” or “credit,” choose “credit” even if you have a debit card.
This is because if the pump is running your card as a credit card, you won’t be forced to enter your pin. This is important to know when you are at a pump that will not allow you to bypass your pin number. Most of them will, but I’ve been at a few pumps that didn’t give me an option to bypass putting it in.
When that happens, just cancel the transaction, start over, and choose “credit” as your option.
7. Invest In An RFID Blocking Card Holder
Thieves are now using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology to steal your card information even if you don’t have your card physically out of your purse or wallet!
They have RFID scanners in place that will read the card and submit that data straight back to them. This means you can get your card information stolen anywhere — not just at the pump!
The good news is that there are RFID proof holders available that you can buy to carry your cards in. They can come in the form of wallets, purses, or even little sleeves so you don’t have to worry about your card data getting stolen in that way.
And they are cheap!
8. Always Try to Use the Pump Closest to the Door
Thieves will mess with the pumps that are furthest away from the door of the store to avoid being seen.
You are a little bit less likely to get hacked if you always try to use the pumps that are most visible to store employees. Thieves try to avoid these most often.
9. Check For Options For Contactless Pay
Mobile apps offered by gas stations (as mentioned above) offer a simple way to pay without contact at the gas pump, but even if you don’t have those apps installed, some gas pumps will let you pay with:
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Digital Waller via Your Bank
Paying with any of the above contact-free methods, if they are available to you, is going to vastly reduce your chances of getting hacked.
10. Pay Inside With the Clerk
Even if you don’t have cash on you, you are safer to pay inside with the clerk using your debit or credit card than you are to pay at the pump.
The clerk’s payment terminal is MUCH less likely to be tampered with since it’s hard for scammers to mess with them when the clerk is almost always behind the counter. Gas pumps outside get tampered with all of the time because the clerk isn’t usually out there watching them.
11. Check For Signs Of Card Reader Tampering
If the card reader at the pump looks or feels like it has been messed with, don’t use it.
You can kind of tell by shaking it to see if it’s loose, or notice if anything with the keys looks damaged or out of place from everything else.
These signs don’t always mean that that particular pump is currently being used to hack you, but it’s a good sign that it may be or has been messed with before. Just don’t use it.
I hope these tips help you if you are worried about getting hacked at the pump and NEVER want it to happen again.
Good luck, and please feel free to sign up for my weekly newsletters with ideas for earning money at home. They’re free!
Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-gas-station-during-evening-2284164/
Anna Thurman is a work at home blogger and mom of two. She has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 13 years. Her findings are published weekly here at Real Ways to Earn.
