

Nice try, Mr. Thief.



“Of course,” I said. “Cost me almost $45 to fill up my Corolla.”

“Great,” the representative said. “And that was in Harvey, Ill., right?”

Um, no, it was at a Stewart’s down the block.

Turns out over the past few days “I” had made a handful of fill-ups in Harvey. My credit-card company alertly figured out something was amiss when the real me bought gas Tuesday. How could I buy gas in Illinois and New York within the same hour?

This isn’t the first time there’s been a fraudulent charge on my credit card, and I’d assume that’s true for most people who carry plastic.

But those past charges I always easily identified, because they involved some sort of online shenanigans, like a PayPal deposit.

This was a gas station.

“I have the card right here in my wallet,” I explained to the rep. “How the heck could someone use a credit card that’s in my pocket in New York at a gas station in Illinois?”

Well, according to the rep, here’s how: There now exists a little hand-held machine that can read and store the information on your credit card. All a cunning thief has to do is swipe your card in the machine, which looks much like the machines you use to make a purchase.

This could happen right in front of your nose.

In other words, you think the store clerk is swiping your card to complete your transaction. But really, he or she is stealing your card number. The thief then can insert a blank credit and transfer your card number, essentially creating a duplicate card.

That’s probably what happened to me, and it explains how someone has been buying gas in Illinois on my dime for the better part of a week.

Of course, I won’t be held responsible for any of the charges.

But in the future, I’ll surely keep a closer eye on the cashier every time I make a purchase with my card.

Pete Iorizzo