Loaning Advantage Cards To Others May Result In Fraud
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When GetGo customers pull up to the gasoline pumps at at least one GetGo in the region, they are greeted with a notice, alerting the customer to thieves who are asking to borrow customers' Giant Eagle Advantage Cards.
Company officials say some fraudsters are borrowing another person's Advantage Card at a pump-and-pay station, filling up with gasoline, and then cutting out without paying -- leaving the innocent lender as the only person of record pumping gas.
"Oooh, I never thought of that," said Erin Logue Smith of the South Side.
"That's been happening," said Robin Welsh of Arlington.
Yes, it has, frequently enough that some store managers have made up their own signs for the pumps.
It's not just at GetGo that loaning your Advantage Card could cause problems.
Giant Eagle officials say it could be a problem at grocery stores, too.
Why? Because the fraudster to whom you loaned your card might have access to your number and use it to cash bad checks in your name.
Giant Eagle customers say they've loaned out their cards.
"Usually someone in front of me or behind me, I say yes. I get the points so I guess it doesn't really matter," Logue Smith told KDKA money editor Jon Delano.
"Sometimes I feel sorry for them," added Welsh. "They miss out on the discounts, so I'll be like do you want to use mine and I'll take your Fuelperks."
But Giant Eagle says part of your Advantage Card number shows up on the scam artist's receipt and then could be stolen from you.
Whether it's gas or groceries, Giant Eagle says they won't make innocent customers pay for the fraud, but they warn: keep your Advantage Card to yourself.
"People are coming up with creative ways to steal these days, so you can't be too careful," adds Smith. "So I never even thought of it that way. I guess I appreciate you're warning me."
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