Earlier this year our County dept. got a heads up that a group of theives have been tampering with payment systems on outdoor gas dispensers. Since this happened in San Luis Opisbo, 2 hours south, I didnt think much of it. Well they have now reached my county. These guys keep working their way north and a few people I know were the victims.
The theifs manually place a device inside the pump that reads and stores the card # you enter, and any PIN or code you enter to activate the card. Im not sure how they retrieve the info, probably manually, but this one lady's atm info was stolen and they rang up around $500 in charges. Because it was an ATM, they give you only a few days to dispute a charge, after that you are screwed. This lady found out 10 days after the fact, and she didnt get her money back.
My brother in law's ATM info was stolen as well, but my sister caught the next day by chance, and they were able to remove the charges. The purchases were made in Arizona and Kansas.
Moral of the story, use cash, or your credit card since they are easier to deal with when disputing charges.
The theifs manually place a device inside the pump that reads and stores the card # you enter, and any PIN or code you enter to activate the card. Im not sure how they retrieve the info, probably manually, but this one lady's atm info was stolen and they rang up around $500 in charges. Because it was an ATM, they give you only a few days to dispute a charge, after that you are screwed. This lady found out 10 days after the fact, and she didnt get her money back.
My brother in law's ATM info was stolen as well, but my sister caught the next day by chance, and they were able to remove the charges. The purchases were made in Arizona and Kansas.
Moral of the story, use cash, or your credit card since they are easier to deal with when disputing charges.
