Everything You Need to Know About Fuel Theft

Unsafe Cards

Some fuel cards still have PIN codes stored on them. This means that by simply purchasing a card reader online for a few dollars, one can swipe the card and instantly see its PIN code.

How to avoid this?

Opt for fuel cards specific to a particular country. Theft often occurs in a country other than where the card was stolen or cloned. If your card can only be used at specific stations in country X, thieves won’t be able to use it elsewhere.

Unsafe Fuel Stations

While it may seem that the more stations a fuel card covers, the better, the reality is quite the opposite. Some individual stations still operate on an offline basis (sending information to the card provider only once a day), which means there’s no opportunity to verify your card’s PIN code, and the limits you set on your card won’t function properly. As a rule, these stations are where most illegal card usage occurs, and video footage from their cameras is almost never available. Knowing this, thieves often target these stations for their actions.

How to avoid this?

Try to avoid unattended stations where your cards could be cloned. Use a rare fuel card that criminals simply won’t know what to do with.

With a fuel card directly from a station network, you'll never hear that they can't review the station's cameras because it’s their private property and they care about it. In contrast, large fuel card providers will often blame you for the theft and will always claim that retrieving data is impossible.

Irresponsible Card Providers

Although they will explain it differently, it is hard to understand how companies making hundreds of millions cannot effectively handle the issue of fuel theft. Some providers still fail to offer clients the ability to set daily or monthly limits on their cards because this could reduce their sales. When an issue arises, their response is always the same – "You could have set the limits yourself in the self-service portal."

How to avoid this?

Once you receive any fuel card, immediately set limits for them. If you know a card won’t be used for a while, block it. Find out if the provider has any stations operating in offline mode, and if the answer is yes – do not use these cards.

Irresponsible Drivers

In TIR parking areas, it’s not uncommon to encounter suspicious individuals who, for a fee, ask drivers to swipe their cards through a card reader and then dictate the PIN code. Some drivers agree to this.

How to avoid this?

Criminals are willing to pay the most for cards from major suppliers because they have a wide service network across Europe. If they learn you have a local card, they will simply turn away and leave.