Getting your debit card hacked at the gas pump is not a pleasant experience, and if you've been the owner of a debit card for 20+ years, there's a great chance it has happened or will happen to you.
It is a great convenience to pay at the pump with your debit or credit card. If you next time you check your bank statement, you have mysterious charges you didn't authorize for purchases you never made… you may have been the victim of a skimmer at the pump.
You need to be aware at the pump. There ARE some things you can do that will make getting hacked at the pump less likely.
- Use Cash
This is the only real way to 100% ensure you won't get hacked at the pump. Keep cash on hand and pay with it whenever possible. An added advantage is the gas may be less expensive with cash. It is less convenient because you do have to go in the store, but if you've had your card hacked enough times, the small inconvenience will be worth it!
- 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. A hacked debit card gives the scammers direct access to your bank account and all the money in it. When you use a credit card at the pump, the scammers are taking money that belongs to the credit card company. You didn't really lose YOUR money.
Filing a dispute over credit card fraud is easier than filing a dispute over debit card fraud. It's more likely you will get the money back on the card because credit card companies will almost always just reverse the charges, with few questions asked. When you file a debit card dispute, the process takes longer, and you have to hope that your financial institution will rule in your favor.
While credit cards and debit cards are typically both safer options, credit cards may have slightly more protection than debit cards if fraud were to occur. For example, if your account number was used but your credit or debit card wasn't stolen or lost, you shouldn't be on the hook for the amount lost. But with debit cards, you must report fraudulent activity within 60 days of your statement date to avoid liability for your loss.
- Use Your Gas Station's Mobile App to Pay
Many gas stations — like Chevron and Exxon — 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 may work a little differently.
The app will have your card number stored, so you never have to insert it at the pump at all.
- 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 the card skimmer, then it's a lot harder for your card number and info to be stolen.
But it can still happen even if you tap because some thieves will go as far as to install tiny cameras that can view your card details as you're paying. Cover your card while tapping just to be safe.
- Do not enter your pin number
Most gas pumps will give an option for you to bypass the debit pin number if you press enter while you are paying for your gas. Always do this!
A scammer who gets your pin number can withdraw cash with your card from anywhere, not just by making purchases online. Not providing your pin keeps the thieves from getting their hands on one of the most valuable pieces of your card information.
- 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.
It's important to know this for when you are at a pump that will not allow you to bypass your pin number (as suggested above). Most of them will let you bypass it, but a few pumps don't give you an option to bypass putting it in.
When that happens, just cancel the transaction, start over, and choose "credit" as your option.
- 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 bank 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. They are not expensive.
- Always try to use the pump closest to the door
Thieves will typically 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 avoid these most often.
- Check 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 Wallet 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.
- 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 have been 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.
- 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 may be able to tell by shaking it to see if it's loose or by noticing if anything around the keypad looks damaged. Ill fitting, or out of place from everything else. Scan the other pumps to see if yours looks the same.
At gas pumps, you can look for skimming devices by checking to see if there's an intact security seal near the card reader. If the pump panel is open or it has a broken seal, the FTC says the seal label will read "void". That's a sign that there might be a skimmer installed.
It doesn'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.
- Turn your debit card off when not using it
Most banks give you the option of turning your debit card off and on via their online banking or mobile apps. You should be able to do this with just a tap. This is great to get in the habit of because even if you use your card at the pump, odds are any fraudulent charges will be declined if you turn your card off as soon as you're done pumping gas. It's a handy, extra measure of protection you can take just in case your number does get stolen despite your efforts.
Whenever and wherever you are paying for items, be alert and make these precautions second nature to try to protect your finances from outside attack.