The New Jersey Department of Homeland Security is warning New Jersey motorists to stop using debit and credit cards to buy gas at the pump. Officials say that many gas station pumps still use the magnetic strip to accept credit and debit cards, rather than the safer encrypted chip method. That leaves credit and debit card information vulnerable to thieves who can potentially steal the data using skimming devices and the gas station’s network. Wawa announced last week that they suffered a massive data breach affecting every customer of theirs after finding malicious software installed in its processing server.
Gas stations in New Jersey have until October 2020 to install chip readers at all pumps. Any gas station without the chip readers after that date will be held liable for any credit or debit card fraud that takes place due to using magnetic strip readers.
Officials from New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell, a division of NJ Homeland Security, say that the safest way to buy gasoline is to use cash. If you must use a card, a credit card will be safer than using a debit card.
i got a second card on my account which I use exclusively at gas stations and have put a $200 spend limit on it. i did this after my number was used overseas on yom tov for several hundred dollars worth of merchandise. the credit card company did not charge me but I had to close the card and therefore change all the autopays that i used thay card for.