Gas pump scam warnings rise alongside fuel prices
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Editor's note: The headline and story were corrected and updated throughout to reflect new information and statements related to an alleged theft scheme at gas stations spreading on social media.
As gas prices rise, more attention is being drawn to gas pump scams that allow thieves to continue charging purchases after a driver leaves the station.
The big picture: Gas theft is nothing new, but "these incidents always increase when prices increase," says Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for NACS, the global trade group for convenience stores and fuel retailers.
- Increased video surveillance and new pre-payment requirements have cut down dramatically on the number of gas drive-offs, he said.
- But criminals have found a myriad of other high-tech methods to steal gas, including techniques to bypass shut off values on pumps, according to Lenard.
Driving the news: Several news reports and some authorities have raised awareness of "pump switching," a scheme where a person distracts a customer filling their tank or offers to help pump their gas.
- In one variation, the person offering to help doesn't put the nozzle back in place to end the payment transaction, allowing them to pump gas into another vehicle, as reported recently by NBC10 in Philadelphia.
- The Queen Anne's County sheriff office in Maryland warned about the scheme in May in a public post on social media.
The intrigue: Another purported variation of the scam recently went viral on social media, where it's claimed that suspects are placing screws in the nozzle cradle so the fuel pump doesn't properly shut off after use.
- Axios and other news outlets like Houston NBC affiliate KPRC 2 reported on the so-called screw method, which had also been alerted by the Queen Anne's County sheriff's office in its original warning.
Reality check: Snopes.com investigated the screw method warnings and has labeled it a viral "hoax."
- The sheriff's office in Queen Anne's County subsequently walked back its original warning on Facebook, saying "reports of screws being placed at gas pumps in Queen Anne's County for fraudulent purposes have been determined to be unfounded."
- A sheriff's spokesperson told Snopes it shared the original public advisory after receiving multiple reports of possible gas pump tampering and "pump-switching."
The bottom line: Screw method aside, "pump switching is a legitimate issue," Lenard said.
- Customers should be wary of anyone who loiters at the pump longer than necessary, he said. "If someone appears unusually or aggressively friendly, whether at the pump or elsewhere, it's probably good to follow your intuition."
