- Jul 2, 2003
- 156,006
- 20,823
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Baptist
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Democrat
Be on the lookout next time you go to the gas station. Naturally, the first thing you're probably going to look at when you pull up is the current cost of unleaded. But there's one other thing you should get eyes on, as well. Police departments across the country are warning drivers about a new gas pump scam called the "screw method." This deceptively simple scam can fleece you of hundreds of bucks using (you guessed it) a screw.
It works like this: Fraudsters stick a screw into the nozzle cradle of the gas pump, positioning it so that the lever never fully returns to the off position after you're finished fueling up. That way, there's no signal to end the transaction. The pump shuts off, you drive off, but the transaction is still active. Then the scammer can just pull up to your pump and start filling up their tank (and, maybe even some additional gas canisters) on your dime.
I would think that if you get a receipt, the transaction ended. Perhaps people aren't asking for a receipt?
