You pull into a gas station, swipe your card, fill up your tank, hang the nozzle back on the pump, and drive away. You’ve done it a thousand times. But right now, in multiple states across the country, that routine is costing people hundreds of dollars. And by the time they notice, the thief is long gone.
A growing number of police departments are issuing warnings about schemes that exploit a surprisingly simple flaw in the way gas pumps work. The concept is almost too easy: keep your transaction open after you leave, then pump gas on your dime. Two variations of this trick are spreading fast, and one of them has already been debunked as something closer to an urban legend. The other? Very real, very active, and getting worse as gas prices climb.
Here’s what you actually need to know.
The “Screw Method” Went Viral, But the Truth Is Complicated
If you’ve been on TikTok or Facebook in the last few weeks, you’ve probably seen videos warning about something called the “screw method.” The idea is that a thief jams a small carpenter’s screw into the nozzle cradle of a gas pump. When you finish pumping and hang the nozzle back up, the screw prevents the cradle lever from fully closing. The pump thinks you’re still fueling. You drive away, and someone walks up and starts filling gas cans or their own vehicle, all on your card.
It sounds terrifying, and it spread like wildfire online. One viral TikTok video racked up millions of views. The Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland posted a warning about it on May 8. News stations across the country picked it up. The Northlake Police Department in Illinois issued its own advisory.
But then things got messy. Queen Anne’s County walked back its warning, telling reporters the reports in their area were “unfounded.” A spokesperson said one of the original reports turned out to be a maintenance issue, not a crime. Shell told fact checkers they weren’t aware of any reported incidents at their stations, adding that their pumps have an automatic shut-off feature that ends transactions after a period of inactivity.
Fact checkers rated the screw method claims as false. A viral video from Right Angle News, posted May 26, showed a man using a power drill to place a screw in a nozzle cradle, but that appeared to be a demonstration rather than documentation of an actual crime in progress.
So is the screw method completely made up? It’s hard to say with total certainty. Some police departments, including Northlake PD near Chicago, issued warnings as recently as June 2, 2026. But no one has produced verified security footage of this actually happening to a real customer. The fear spread faster than the evidence.
Pump Switching Is the Real Problem
While the screw method debate ate up social media attention, the confirmed version of this theft has been quietly growing. It’s called pump switching, and it’s been documented by police departments, news outlets, and industry groups as a legitimate and active threat.
Here’s how pump switching actually works. You pull up to a gas station. A stranger approaches and offers to pump your gas for you. Maybe they seem friendly. Maybe they target someone who looks like they could use a hand. You say sure, or maybe you decline but they linger anyway. Either way, when you’re done fueling, the person “helpfully” puts the nozzle back for you. Except they don’t put it back correctly. The nozzle doesn’t seat properly in the cradle, so the pump doesn’t register that the transaction is over. Your card is still active.
You drive away. Then the person turns to the next car that pulls up and offers to pump their gas for, say, $20 cash. That driver thinks they’re getting a deal. The thief pockets the cash. Your card absorbs the charges. This can go on for car after car until the pump eventually times out or your card hits its limit.
One Woman’s $150 Fill Up in a Toyota
Mignon Adams stopped at a Sunoco station at Walnut and 22nd Streets in Philadelphia. A stranger offered to pump her gas. She turned him down, but the man stuck around. When she finished filling up, he insisted on putting the nozzle back for her. She tipped him and left.
Then she checked her credit card statement. The charge was $150. Her actual fill up cost about $28.
“I drive a Toyota. There isn’t any way you could get $150 worth of gas in my car’s gas tank,” she told NBC10.
Other victims in the Philadelphia suburbs have reported charges as high as $165. And many people don’t notice the extra charges for days or even weeks, by which point disputing the charge becomes more difficult.
Police in Lower Merion Township, just outside Philadelphia, have warned that some of these people can get aggressive. They may physically grab the nozzle from drivers who try to handle it themselves. That’s not a friendly stranger offering to help. That’s a thief trying to keep control of the pump.
Why This Gets Worse When Gas Prices Go Up
Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for NACS (the global trade group for convenience stores and fuel retailers), put it simply: “These incidents always increase when prices increase.”
It makes sense. When gas is $2.50 a gallon, the payoff for pulling this kind of stunt is relatively small. When it’s $4 or $5, suddenly filling up a few cars on someone else’s card can net a thief hundreds of dollars in an afternoon. And the cash they collect from unsuspecting drivers who think they’re getting a deal? That’s pure profit.
Harris County Constable Alan Rosen in Texas echoed the same point: “Anytime things become this expensive, the criminal element is going to try to enter the market.”
The combination of high gas prices, self-service pumps, and distracted customers creates the perfect conditions. And unlike the old days when someone might just drive off without paying, these newer methods are harder to catch because the pump’s own payment system is being used exactly as designed. Nobody is hacking anything. Nobody is installing a device. They’re just keeping the nozzle off the hook.
Who Gets Targeted Most
Multiple law enforcement agencies have flagged that elderly individuals and women traveling alone are disproportionately targeted. The logic is grim but straightforward: someone who looks like they might accept help, or who might not feel comfortable confronting a stranger who won’t leave, is a better mark.
The Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office specifically mentioned elderly people being approached more often. And the pattern holds across states. The person offering to help is counting on politeness and distraction to create a window of opportunity.
Skimmers Are Still Out There Too
While pump switching and the screw method debate dominated the headlines, the old standby of credit card skimmers hasn’t gone anywhere. In late May, Rock Springs police in Wyoming found a skimmer at a Maverik station right off Interstate 80, one of the busiest highway corridors in the state. Thousands of drivers, truckers, and travelers pass through that area every day.
Skimmers work differently from pump switching. They’re physical devices installed on or inside the card reader slot. External skimmers look bulkier than normal. They might be a slightly different color or sit unevenly over the card slot. If you jiggle it and it feels loose, that’s a problem. Internal skimmers require the panel to be opened, which can leave scratches, dents, or misaligned parts. Many gas stations place security stickers over panel seams. If the sticker is torn or peeled, someone may have been inside.
A manager at a nearby TA Express truck stop told reporters his staff inspects fuel pumps at least three times a day. That’s the kind of station you want to fill up at.
What You Should Actually Do
Forget the social media panic. Here’s what law enforcement and industry experts are consistently recommending across every source.
First, always hang up the nozzle yourself. Never let a stranger do it. If someone approaches offering to pump your gas at a self-service station, decline. If they get pushy, leave and report it.
Second, do not leave the pump until the screen resets. Wait until the display asks if you want a receipt or returns to $0.00. If the screen still shows your transaction amount, the pump is still active. Your card is still being charged.
Third, use tap to pay when you can. Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a contactless credit card adds a layer of separation between you and an open card reader. It also makes skimming your card number harder.
Fourth, use credit cards instead of debit cards at the pump. Credit cards have stronger fraud protections. If someone runs up $150 on your credit card, you can dispute it. If they drain your checking account through a debit card, getting that money back is a much bigger headache. One victim, Christian Quaker, pointed out that a debit card has no built in limit at the pump: “You can overdraft an account like that.”
Fifth, pick your gas station wisely. Stations with good lighting, visible security cameras, pumps close to the store entrance, and attendants who are actually paying attention are harder targets. Major retailers that conduct frequent inspections are generally a safer bet than an isolated station off a dark highway exit.
Finally, check your statements. If you see a gas charge that doesn’t match what you pumped, call your card company immediately.
The Big Picture
The screw method may or may not be real. The jury is still out, and it’s possible some version of it has happened somewhere, but verified cases are essentially nonexistent. Pump switching, on the other hand, is confirmed, documented, and spreading. Police in Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, Arizona, Texas, and Illinois have all issued warnings. The NACS trade group confirms it’s a growing issue.
The common thread is simple: if someone you don’t know is hanging around a gas pump trying to interact with you, something is wrong. Trust that instinct. Hang up the nozzle yourself, watch the screen reset, and drive away knowing your card isn’t still running behind you.