A Nebraska woman allegedly found a lucrative quirk at a gas station pump — double-swipe the rewards card and get free gas!
Unfortunately for her, you can’t do that, prosecutors said. The 45-year-old woman was arrested March 6 and faces felony theft charges accusing her of a crime that cost the gas station nearly $28,000.
Prosecutors say the woman exploited the system over a period of several months. Police learned of the problem in October when the loss-prevention manager at Bosselman Enterprises reported that the company’s Pump & Pantry in Lincoln had been scammed.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say wouldn’t work anyway.
Stations have cameras.
Cars have plates.
They’d track the car to the owner and the owner would point fingers at who borrowed the car.
The camera would show the face of who was pumping the gas.
What if you just went on foot with 5 gallon containers, didn’t do it frequently, and never went to the same gas station a second time?
It’s not easy to read license plates from normal CCTV cameras unless they are pointing at the right spot. I used to install them at gas stations and the owners were almost always surprised by this. The best they can usually get is make, model, and color. Maybe newer cameras are better but I’m guessing the vast majority are using cheap cameras.
You can read license plates with a 5mp camera, you just need to have a narrow fov. If you have a wide angle lens, then you’re not going to be able to read them without more resolution.
Just steal plates of another car. Not really a big deal or hard to pull off. And even without a mask, you can use just basic shades and ballcap.
I mean, the risk of getting caught is still very much there, but I’d say it’s very much lower than if you use your own plates, your own rewards car and a clear face.
