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Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,928
Registered: ‎11-01-2010

@151949 wrote:

Credit card skimming is one of the reasons we ONLY buy gas with a gift card bought at Publix. We NEVER EVER use a credit card at a gas station as this is the most common place thieves use those skimmers.


@151949

 

I do the same thing - buy gas gift cards at Publix. Been doing it for years.

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,938
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Got a scare this mornng

[ Edited ]

@151949 wrote:

Credit card skimming is one of the reasons we ONLY buy gas with a gift card bought at Publix. We NEVER EVER use a credit card at a gas station as this is the most common place thieves use those skimmers.


@151949

 

We always use a cc at gas pumps & hotels when we travel. Never had that problem. I would think you could see if the pump had a skimmer on it. Google gas pump skimmer & click on Images to see what they look like.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Got a scare this mornng

[ Edited ]

@Nightowlz wrote:

@151949 wrote:

Credit card skimming is one of the reasons we ONLY buy gas with a gift card bought at Publix. We NEVER EVER use a credit card at a gas station as this is the most common place thieves use those skimmers.


@151949

 

We always use a cc at gas pumps & hotels when we travel. Never had that problem. I would think you could see if the pump had a skimmer on it. Google gas pump skimmer & click on Images to see what they look like.


No thank you , I think I'll stick with my current method of avoiding trouble. Much safer.

I actually never use a CC when I can pay cash for something. Good ole cash money - no trail leading back to me or my credit rating.And now a days thieves can't be bothered stealing that little bit of money you have in your pocket or purse - they want to get access to what you have in the bank. 

This AM we went to Sarasota for the Saturday street market. People were pulling out credit cards to pay for a $2 glass of lemonade.That is the behavior that makes someone vulnerable to identity theft. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,315
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Ive had 2 credit cards hacked in the last 3 weeks.  Its rampant.  You have to look everyday at your accounts.

Contributor
Posts: 34
Registered: ‎05-11-2015

One common method where I live is at gas stations. I have a scanner app. on my phone and use it at the pump each time I go for gas. It is faster than paying inside. These con artists are always one step ahead so it is hard to know how it happens. The card company will give you a new card but no info. on how it might have happened. I had it happened once and I think it was done by a waiter that I had to give me card to. People on social media were saying they bought gas in the morning and by the afternoon their card was used six states away.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,602
Registered: ‎03-21-2010

@meem120 wrote:

Ive had 2 credit cards hacked in the last 3 weeks.  Its rampant.  You have to look everyday at your accounts.


I check my credit card account everyday.  This is how I found that authorization.  It never got to the point that it went through as a charge.  The other charges were attempted today but was declined as I closed the credit card account.  I still don't know how it happened.  I do almost all shopping online.  Never had any trouble with that.  I will continue to shop that way.  I don't like to carry and pay with cash when I shop.  I'm taking a bigger risk carrying cash on me. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010
Several gas stations around here have had skimmers placed on them....our Nextdoor app alerts us when someone else has had fraudulent charges on their credit cards, bit it keeps happening so we think it is the manager of the convenience store where the gas pumps are....we only get our gas at Costco. Am told the skimmers are most often put on gas station self-service pumps.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010
We only get gas at Costco. They have someone out at the pumps who checks for skimmers on a constant basis. Their gas is always cheaper also.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,170
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

In the past I had some trouble but  my card caught it before I did. I asked them how they did it and they said "usual purchases"  this was CHASE. After the FUN I decided to get Lifelock just to have a second 'watcher."

 

Just a short review

 

1.  Airline tickets from LaGuardia to Atlanta.  Stopped immediately and they told me they  would stop them at the gate when they checked in because the tickets were fraudulent.

I live in western Maryland and the trip made no sense.

 

2. Lunch in El Salvador (carry out)  This one is self explanatory why they did not allow it.

 

3.  $1,600 necklace from St. Thomas Virgin Islands.   I never buy expensive jewelry and I was not in St. Thomas.

 

4.  Mens suit in NYC. 

 

This was all about 10 years ago.  After that so far so good.  

 

I check my accounts daily.  I  use Paypal if I think the merchant is off shore. If I buy from Amazon I buy from a sponsored product.  

 

I don't go into strange mom and pop gas stations.  If I am suspicious I pay inside and not at the pump.  (In our area there were incidents... skimmers.  

 

AND IF I TRAVEL ANYWHERE I CALL MY CREDIT CARD AHEAD AND TELL THEM I AM GOING.. WHEN AND WHERE.  

  

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,402
Registered: ‎03-13-2010

Unfortunately it has happened to me several times.  

 

I have alerts on all my cards - if I spend more than $1, I get a text.  Last December I bought tickets at a local theater for the Nutcracker.  The next morning, I get an alert that a charge was made on that same card for $1900 for Knicks tickets.  No way I would spend $20 on Knicks tickets!  I called my bank as soon as the text appeared.

 

We really have to be on top of it!