Is there anyone else that always uses cash to pay for gas?
I had to a couple times when driving to California for an internship, because despite telling my CC company this I didn't specify exactly what days I would pass through which states, so even after entering my billing ZIP (and calling to confirm, yes, I assure you I'm traveling) I'd be forced to pay inside.
You had to specify a specific amount though and most interestingly, if you overshot (asked for 50, used 46) they refunded the difference in cash.
Personally, since I am not responsible for credit card fraud, I simply choose to have a separate card for re-occuring payments like my phone and internet. If someone skims my daily spending card, I'll just report it as fraud and not worry about it.
I never seen that. What I always saw was they authorize for $50, then charge $46. If they're doing how you described it, they're paying interchange on the extra and not getting anything for it.
It does, however, require that the machine operator is aware of how to do those operations - it's probably easier for them to just charge the card for the set amount, and refund in cash.
Though this slightly increases their risk, as any chargebacks means not only do they lose the product, but the cash too.
And if it does... just call your bank and get a new card and get the transactions reversed in a 30min phone call.
Such criminal activity tends to occur in concentrated pockets.
Gas stations around Joshua Tree, CA had been rumored to be skimming people's cards, and some now carry large official stickers warning users of their cards likely getting frozen for 72 hours should they be used at the pump, confirming the rumors.
I imagine the active number is probably more in the thousands nationally. There are a lot of lower income, high-crime areas where pumps are neglected. The Venn diagram of gas stations lacking squeegees and those compromised I suspect has a lot of overlap.