Edmund’s credit cards were all hacked 3 x in a row after he gassed-up at the Petron and Shell stations in EDSA using a SKIMMER, a small powerful gadget the size of a business card. The accomplice/s could be the gasoline boys and/or the cashiers.
The other day, we were running out of gas so we stopped at the Petron Station near Boni.
Instead of giving my credit card to the gasoline boy, I purposely got-off the car and went to their cashier.
I talked to the Petron’s staff, guards. The one near Boni has two female cashiers inside a heavily tinted glass enclosure.
The guard and the gasoline boys assured me that they don’t have a Skimmer, but one of the gasoline boys admitted to me that he’s been approached once by a guy driving a Montero who offered him P1,000 for every swipe. Before I left, I gave them a stern warning that if ever my card is hacked after I gassed up from their station, ipapupulis ko sila.
Skimmer is a small gadget that picks-up all confidential information when your credit card is swiped and in minutes, the syndicate makes a duplicate copy and in an hour, someone from another country would be going shopping using your card. Edmund’s BPI card was used to purchase something for US$4,000 by someone from abroad.
My mastercard was also hacked immediately after I gassed up at a gas station along EDSA northbound near the Clover Leaf.
Be very careful when paying for gasoline, food, etc. Make sure that you have full view of your card all the time. I know this is difficult because when we are in restaurants, we entrust our cards to the waiters.
Keep your receipts and always remember your last usage so that if something like that happens to you, you could immediately pinpoint where the scam occurred.
My appreciation to regular ohmybuhay reader Alvin for the correct spelling.
Hi An. I think the term is “skimming”. ‘Card skimming’ is the illegal copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit or ATM card.