Worth checking out!

[frugal-one]

PUSH THE CLEAR BUTTON, NEXT TO THE "0", WHEN PURCHASING GAS !!



Push The Clear Button





Read this note very carefully.

I did not know about the clear button,
but I will be pushing the clear button
before I swipe my gas or debit card
and after just to be safe.


People are getting really desperate due
to the constantly rising gas prices.

A friend just told me about something that happened to one of his
coworkers.She used her credit/debit card to purchase gas at the pump (like most of us do).
She received her receipt like normal.
However, when she checked her statement, there were 2 $50.00 charges added in addition to her purchase. Upon investigation, she found out that because she did not press the 'clear' button on the pump, the employee inside the store was able to use her card to
purchase his/her own gas !
To keep this from happening, after you get your receipt, you must press the 'CLEAR' button or your information will be stored until the next customer inserts their card.
Be sure to tell all your friends/family so
that this doesn't happen to them. I had
never noticed the clear button but I got
gas the other day and sure enough it is there. I shall be using it from now on.


NEXT TO ZERO

[Bastelmutti]

Snopes.com says this is false: http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/clearbutton.asp

[RosieTR]

Any of those internet things that are warnings, money winning offers, job offers, etc should be checked with snopes. Most of these things are close to something that has happened and so seem possible. In this case, there have been instances of ID thieves installing false ATMs or manipulating the card readers on a real one so that they scan your cc or debit info. Another thing that has occasionally happened is a retailer or food server has retained your cc info, or done some manipulating such as increasing your tip without your knowledge. The actual lesson in these scandals whether fictional or true is to monitor your cc purchases and track your spending so that you get false charges removed from your card immediately or get a new card if your number has been compromised. This is a good practice by any measure.

[razz]

Any of those internet things that are warnings, money winning offers, job offers, etc should be checked with snopes. Most of these things are close to something that has happened and so seem possible. In this case, there have been instances of ID thieves installing false ATMs or manipulating the card readers on a real one so that they scan your cc or debit info. Another thing that has occasionally happened is a retailer or food server has retained your cc info, or done some manipulating such as increasing your tip without your knowledge. The actual lesson in these scandals whether fictional or true is to monitor your cc purchases and track your spending so that you get false charges removed from your card immediately or get a new card if your number has been compromised. This is a good practice by any measure.

I did check with snopes on this thread but nothing came up in response. What words did you use to get the info, Rosie? I tried a number of words; 'clear at gas pump', 'gas pump theft', 'push clear button' and some others as well because this sounded so implausible. No CC company would allow a longterm connection to extend their liability such as was mentioned.

[frugal-one]

I checked also but even if the above is false, it is thought-provoking. That is why I did not delete this thread.

[pony mom]

Jersey girls don't pump their own gas :)

[freein05]

Jersey girls don't pump their own gas :)

Who does?

[Tiam]

Jersey girls don't pump their own gas :)


Neither do Oregon girls.

[Tiam]

Any of those internet things that are warnings, money winning offers, job offers, etc should be checked with snopes. Most of these things are close to something that has happened and so seem possible. In this case, there have been instances of ID thieves installing false ATMs or manipulating the card readers on a real one so that they scan your cc or debit info. Another thing that has occasionally happened is a retailer or food server has retained your cc info, or done some manipulating such as increasing your tip without your knowledge. The actual lesson in these scandals whether fictional or true is to monitor your cc purchases and track your spending so that you get false charges removed from your card immediately or get a new card if your number has been compromised. This is a good practice by any measure.


No doubt you are correct. On the other hand it can't hurt!

[loosechickens]

generally, what I do with these things to locate them in Snopes, razz, is I copy and paste the first few lines of the email in the search box, if some keywords don't turn up anything the first time around. Luckily, these things reverberate around the web for years without being substantially changed in their wording, so most of the time, I can find them that way. Hope this helps in the future.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I thought the lesson was to pay cash :laff: (yea, I go up to the register)

[jp1]

Jersey girls don't pump their own gas :)

The first time I was in NJ, 20 years ago, I didn't know this. So I got out and picked up the nozzle to pump the gas but there weren't any of the usual self-service controls on the pump. Then the employee came over, looking really confused and, without saying anything, took the nozzle out of my hand and started pumping the gas for me!