Thought it was worth relaying this as many of you (even if you are not driving) use the shops in petrol stations enroute to raves…
as an aside, don’t rack up with a chip and pin card. It fucks up the chip; and you then look like an dodgy card thief in the shop when the thing doesn’t read properly.
Petrol giant Shell has suspended chip-and-pin payments in 600 UK petrol stations after more than £1m was siphoned out of customers’ accounts.
Eight people, including one from Guildford, Surrey and another from Portsmouth, Hants, have been arrested in connection with the fraud inquiry.
The Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) said the fraud related to just one petrol chain.
Shell said it hoped to restore the chip-and-pin service before Monday.
Plastic crime
The racket is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police cheque and plastic crime unit.
“These Pin pads are supposed to be tamper resistant, they are supposed to shut down, so that has obviously failed,” said Apacs spokeswoman Sandra Quinn.
She said Apacs was confident the problem was specific to Shell and not a systemic issue.
Shell has nearly 1,000 outlets in the UK, 400 of which are run by franchisees who will continue to use chip-and-pin.
A Shell spokeswoman said: “We have temporarily suspended chip and pin availability in our UK company-owned service stations.
“This is a precautionary measure to protect the security of our customers’ transactions.
“You can still pay for your fuel, goods or services with your card by swipe and signature.
“We will reintroduce chip and pin as soon as it is possible, following consultation with the terminal manufacturer, card companies and the relevant authorities.”
BP is also looking into card fraud at petrol stations in Worcestershire but it is not known if this is connected to chip-and-pin.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/4980190.stm
Published: 2006/05/06 12:45:53 GMT
© BBC MMVI
