I left my husband at the VA where he's being treated for an infection and pneumonia and headed home. I stopped to get gas at a station owned by a grocery store. I paid for the gas inside the station because I'm leery of using credit cards at the pump. As I returned to my car, a young guy was standing by my car and asked if he could pump the gas for me. I refused, seemed kind of fishy to me. Was that a conman, maybe? I tend to be skeptical of anything that might be a con. I mean, my skeptical nature is why I prepay inside, not at the pump!

Hopefully not and it was just someone trying to help. In N.J. you are not allowed to pump your own gas. So I wonder if in some other states people try to get tips for pumping gas for you.

Around Chicago we have so many carjackings that I'd really be leery of that too. But who knows, maybe just a kid hoping for a tip?

We pump our own gas here, and we also pay more if you pay by credit or debit card, it can range from $.05-.15 depending on the station, so I always avoid that. But I found that Shell has a refillable gift card that I use that counts as cash, so I don't have to leave my car and walk with cash to pay, plus I always like to fill up (so I have to do it less often and I can track mileage). With cash you have give them more than you'll pump, go back in a 2nd time, wait your turn again for the difference back... yeah, not doing all that. And I'd probably avoid getting gas at night here as well.

I hope your husband has a speedy recovery and is back home soon, Linda.

Yup, when hubby called today to tell me he was being sent home (Yay!), I told him about that guy and he said that's a scam. With some credit card transactions, the conman can keep the pump turned on when you leave and then fill up another car on your account. I know some people are financially strapped nowadays, but that isn't right.

Your instincts are good. The only way I think that might not work for them is that credit cards usually put a cap of $75 per gas transaction at the pump (at least in my state I know they do, the Shell card I use doesn't have that limit, so someone like me could possibly be out as much as the balance on the card). With the price of gas, last year it was well over $5/gal here, some people hit that limit just filling up, so hopefully it would be shut off before they got too much. But since you don't use a credit card, not sure how they pick their targets or what other scam they might be up to. But my instinct would always be refuse like you did.

https://abc7chicago.com/gas-st...

I looked up and it's called "pump switching". He didn't know I prepayed for gas. I could have just used the restroom and then went back to use my credit card for gas. Since part of the station pumps were non-functioning last night I ended up at a pump I would usually not want...one way off to the side and not visible to employees. Perfect setup for the guy to lurk there.

crawgarden said: https://abc7chicago.com/gas-st...

Wow, that's unbelievable they do that in public. I thought the $75 credit card limit on gas pumped was asinine here, now I appreciate it as a smart move.

TY,RJ! Good info. All I can say is I'm glad my embarrassing paranoia protected me from making a mistake. And I'm doubtful that Texas will ever pass any law that would at least prevent some of this. Texas government doesn't make life any better for its citizens, ever.

I'm glad nothing but having a story to tell resulted from your encounter with what sounds like a criminal to me too! I believe this would be classified as theft, which is already illegal, and maybe loitering. What kind of law would you craft to prevent this?

Laws don't prevent crime. If they did, we wouldn't have any criminals. Laws just define actions which can be charged as offenses so that a punishment can be inflicted if the perpetrator is caught and convicted. Criminals don't have a moral compass and don't care about laws, which is what makes them criminals.