Credit card skimmers are not the only heckle at the pumps these days.  Credit card fraud at the dispenser is a pervasive problem, but not a new problem.   What is new is that the culprits are no longer just filling up their own tanks on someone else’s dime.  Most recently culprits are using truck bladders and stolen cards to enter the retail fuel business.   These culprits are taking stolen gas down the road and selling it well below rack price to another station.   What’s even more sickening is that station owners are actually buying it.

Currently, a man in South Florida is being held on 8 counts of counterfeiting & the use of the bladder within the truck.  Hopefully the EMV change in credit cards providing a secure chip will eliminate the risk of having fraud at the pump.  Hopefully, the industry will join together to rid itself of station owners who buy stolen gas.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/credit-card-fraudsters-pump-gas-stations-for-profit-1441253132

Being hacked is becoming more and more common place.  So what about your Automatic Tank Gauge?

“The vulnerability of the gauges used to monitor gasoline tanks is the latest security issue plaguing consumer and industrial devices that are increasingly being connected to the Internet.” – Robert Lemos

Hacking an ATG and triggering environmental alarms could prevent a facility from dispensing fuel.

Sale data and environmental data could also be extracted and used by competitors, collection agencies, and potential buyers of the property who valuate the property based on gallonage.

Robert Lemos wrote a thought provoking article in ars technica about the issue.  Check it out here.

Make sure to take the necessary and inexpensive steps to secure your ATG!