Woman uses petrol pump glitch to get over $27,000 of free gas
A woman allegedly used a glitch at a petrol pump to get more than $27,000 in free gasoline.
Dawn Thompson, 45, is accused of swiping a rewards card twice to put the pump in demo mode and retrieve gas without paying, KOLN reported.
Fuel pumps at a gas station near West O Street and Sun Valley Boulevard in Lincoln, Nebraska, in November 2022 received a software update which allowed the system to manage orders and reward cards, police said.
But staff, who along with customers requested the update, did not know about the rewards card double swipe hack.
Bosselman Enterprise’s loss prevention manager found that one reward card had been used for free gas numerous times and contacted Lincoln police in October.
Cops traced the information on the card to Thompson, according to court records obtained by the news outlet.
CCTV that was recovered from Pump & Pantry showed Thompson pumping gas at the station on several occasions.
Between November 13, 2022, and June 1, 2023, the rewards card was used 510 times, including multiple times on the same day, according to police. That amounted to an estimated 7,413.59 gallons of gas. Taking into account the average fuel cost during that time period of $3.758 per gallon, the total loss to the business was $27,860.27.
Police also discovered another woman using the card. The woman told cops that Thompson would allow her to use it for ‘discounted fuel’ and that she would pay Thompson, states an arrest affidavit. The woman is believed to have paid Thompson $500 to pump $700 in gas over 10 times.
The woman added that Thompson sold the card around June. Perhaps of no coincidence, the glitch was corrected on June 1.
A man paying off a car debt gave the card to Thompson instead of providing the funds, according the cops. The man died in January and was not interviewed regarding the crime.
Following months of investigation, Thompson was arrested on March 6 and charged with a count of theft by unlawful taking in the amount of $5,000 or more.
Thompson was arraigned on Thursday and her bond was set at 10% of $7,500. As of Friday, she was not listed at Lancaster County jail.
Her next court date is set for April 11.
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