Almost got scammed/ robbed

[N Florida Mike]

Went to get gas yesterday , so I could hopefully find some toilet paper  .        ( seriously). I ran the card for credit at the pump. It didn’t work so I went to the attendant and it didn’t work debit or credit when he set it up. It said “declined”. ?

 

So I called my wife to see if she knew what was going on. She said It showed that 125.00 was ran but it declined because of the bank security measures that saw it was a gas purchase and thought it was too much for gas . Thank God.

So I put 10.00 in with cash , went to the store, and they were just unloading the TP. ?

 

Called the police and he made a report and said he’d go to the gas station and interview the clerk.

Not sure if it was the clerk, or maybe one of those gas pump card scanner things. 
What do y’all think ?
 

 

[J Francho]

When you run the card, it makes an initial charge.  When you're done filling, it refunds the initial charge, and charges the amount you actually bought.  This is how they prevent someone with only a few dollars on their card limit pumping more than their card limit.  

[lo n slo]

good score on the tp brother ?

[Hammer 4]

I Never scan my card at the pump, always go inside to pay. Morons plant card readers at places like gas pumps, even at bank atm's..Goggle can show how to spot the readers..

[N Florida Mike]

11 hours ago, J Francho said:

When you run the card, it makes an initial charge.  When you're done filling, it refunds the initial charge, and charges the amount you actually bought.  This is how they prevent someone with only a few dollars on their card limit pumping more than their card limit.  

I’ve never heard that before but it makes sense. Maybe it got stuck? I’ll probably never know,?since the cop isn’t going to come back and tell me I’m sure!

9 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I Never scan my card at the pump, always go inside to pay. Morons plant card readers at places like gas pumps, even at bank atm's..Goggle can show how to spot the readers..

I always try to use credit, which I hear is safer, I don’t know if it counteracts the card readers or not...

most of the gas stations around here have long lines so I opt for pay at the pump.

[Oregon Native]

U Lucky

[greentrout]

be happy your bank is on top of the situation ...

 

got an email one morning telling me my debit card had been cancelled ... citing suspicious activity ... from a merchant i visited ...  and many others visited, too ...

 

new card was sent and was told old card good for 5 more working days till new card arrived ...

 

a lot of krap going on out there ... 

[The Bassman]

Had this happen to my card back in Nov. Got a text and e-mail asking if I attempted two charges to a dating service. Bank locked the card right away. No more magnet strip scanning. All chip readers from now on.

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

No more magnet strip scanning. All chip readers from now on.

Except that there are remote scanners that can read your chip from a distance...how do you think 'tap to pay' works? Get a shielded wallet...crooks can cruise the neighborhood and scan your chip from their car.

[HenryPF]

15 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I Never scan my card at the pump, always go inside to pay. Morons plant card readers at places like gas pumps, even at bank atm's..Goggle can show how to spot the readers..

 

I dunno about your locations - but I go to the Speedway gas stations by me (points) also known as Travel Americas or TA gas stations.

 

All my pumps have the chip reader in them and also require zip code billing addresses. You no longer swipe the card, just insert and follow directions.

[flyfisher]

41 minutes ago, HenryPF said:

 

I dunno about your locations - but I go to the Speedway gas stations by me (points) also known as Travel Americas or TA gas stations.

 

All my pumps have the chip reader in them and also require zip code billing addresses. You no longer swipe the card, just insert and follow directions.

Insert is the same as a swipe though. 

Banks are pretty good about detecting fraudulent activity and with mobile banking and alerts make it very easy to detect when something is awry on your account.  

[Sam]

I was told many years ago after I got scammed at the Sheets on Midlothian Turnpike and Providence Road in Richmond, VA, that you can actually see the illegal card readers where you insert your card.

 

I have never gone back to that Sheets. I now always double check for illegal card readers.

 

The detective told me that you can actually move the illegal device with your fingers while it is in the pump.

 

I have no idea if what I was told is true about moving the illegal device as I have never encountered another one since.

 

And I do keep my two credit cards in a lead lined card holder in my wallet.

[Log Catcher]

We had credit cards compromised twice and the cards never left our possession. The second time we got a call from the card company about suspicious charges on our card. When I talked to the credit union the called the card company and found out the cards had already been cancelled and they were sending us new ones.  I don't have a shielded wallet but I do keep it in a sleeve that is supposed to stop card readers from taking your info.

[MN Fisher]

11 minutes ago, Sam said:

And I do keep my two credit cards in a lead lined card holder in my wallet.

That works - only need .5mm of lead to stop Wi-Fi signals.

4 minutes ago, Log Catcher said:

I don't have a shielded wallet but I do keep it in a sleeve that is supposed to stop card readers from taking your info.

If the end of that sleeve is open, it's not protecting the card...signal will go down the opening. If it's just mylar lined, that's great for anti-static...won't even slow down a Wi-Fi signal. You need some sort of metal...even close-spaced mesh will do it.

[Bankbeater]

I always go inside, and I always pay cash.

[J Francho]

I simply monitor my accounts and have alerts set up for suspicious charges through my banking app.  Most often, the bank flags a legitimate purchase, that I simply have to test "OK" back, or they call me directly.  Once, a couple years ago, There was one from an out of state business.  It was declined, and I got a new card in a few days.

I save the tin foil hat for Halloween.

[haggard]

Cash is king

 

[J Francho]

The only thing I need cash for anymore is tipping.  Cash is too easy to steal, lose, misplace, etc. 

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, J Francho said:

The only thing I need cash for anymore is tipping.  Cash is too easy to steal, lose, misplace, etc. 

Ya, the only time I have cash is when I go to the laundromat. Stop at the Speedway, pull out $20, laundromat is across the street.

[J Francho]

On 4/3/2020 at 6:58 PM, MN Fisher said:

Ya, the only time I have cash is when I go to the laundromat. Stop at the Speedway, pull out $20, laundromat is across the street.

I'm sketchy on gas station ATMs.  I know they have cameras, but you never know.  They always sit in the back corner of the store, unattended.  I prefer to take out cash at the checkout, where the card reader is well attended.  Places like Lowe's, CVS, or the grocery store seem safer to me.  

[jimmyjoe]

45 minutes ago, J Francho said:

  I prefer to take out cash at the checkout, where the card reader is well attended.

   This, 100%.         jj

[CrankFate]

I have seen many a person screaming in gas stations over getting dinged for $100-200 on a $30.00 purchase. Some gas stations even have signs that say the pump will get you for $100 or $150 that could take up to 24 hours to be added back to your account. Just before the corona virus outbreak, I saw this hipster guy screaming in a 7-11 because he got dinged for $120 after they charged him for two packs of cigarettes when he only bought one pack. And how when they took the extra pack off he got hit with a $120 hold on his account, so he had no money to eat for two days because it was his whole balance. They were about to call the police because he was screaming if you took my $120, give me $120 worth of stuff. He was screaming “the police? You stole MY money, if anyone’s calling the police, I’M CALLING THE POLICE!!!” By then there was about 15 people waiting on line, when he realized the crowd of people standing there, he calmed down a bit.

[schplurg]

On 4/3/2020 at 3:58 PM, MN Fisher said:

Ya, the only time I have cash is when I go to the laundromat. Stop at the Speedway, pull out $20, laundromat is across the street.

I always have cash on me. Not only because cards and readers can fail either. "Sorry we can only accept cash right now" If I lose the $60-80 it's not that big of a deal.

 

I think having some cash on you is good for a lot of situations (hookers and drugs, err I mean hooks and plugs  )

 

Edit to add:

Bait Monkey: "Buy that"

Me: "I have no cash!"

Bait Monkey: "you have a credit card in your wallet"

Me: "I left it at home!!! Joke's on you, sucker!!!"

[Boomstick]

Well I do know that most stations authorize $100 at a time for gas when you swipe your card, so any more than that is pretty weird. I mean it's pretty universal at least up here in the northeast where there's a good amount of gas tax.

[N Florida Mike]

On 4/7/2020 at 8:28 AM, CrankFate said:

I have seen many a person screaming in gas stations over getting dinged for $100-200 on a $30.00 purchase. Some gas stations even have signs that say the pump will get you for $100 or $150 that could take up to 24 hours to be added back to your account. Just before the corona virus outbreak, I saw this hipster guy screaming in a 7-11 because he got dinged for $120 after they charged him for two packs of cigarettes when he only bought one pack. And how when they took the extra pack off he got hit with a $120 hold on his account, so he had no money to eat for two days because it was his whole balance. They were about to call the police because he was screaming if you took my $120, give me $120 worth of stuff. He was screaming “the police? You stole MY money, if anyone’s calling the police, I’M CALLING THE POLICE!!!” By then there was about 15 people waiting on line, when he realized the crowd of people standing there, he calmed down a bit.

I WOULD have called the police, just like I did over this event. Of course , in this case , I’ll probably never know for sure exactly what happened.

I have more problems with relatives that find a way to steal from me than all this other stuff combined. If they would work as hard at an actual job as they do trying to get what I have, then they’d be well off. ?