Beware of Paying By Credit Card at the Gas Pumps
This one is a little old, but going to be relevant still. EMV in the United states is now required everywhere (as of October 2015), except for at gas stations who have until October 2016 (Mastercard) and 2017 (Visa) to get into compliance. That means card skimmers are shifting their attention to the gas stations, at least according to this article.
Makes perfect sense — criminals will migrate to where the money is (even non-criminals do this). So if you fill up gas, here’s a couple tips:
- Pay for the gas inside the gas station if you can
- Use pumps that are facing the gas station and more importantly the cameras (the pumps not facing the station are easier for criminals to install card skimmers)
- Cash (what’s that?), seriously though if you can use cash to pay for gas then use cash
–Kevin