North Carolina-based Solid Rock Carriers was hit with $27,000 worth of fuel card fraud in a single day via card skimming. Though the company was able to recoup the money, it had other ramifications when it came to addressing the fallout, including back-office stress and driver frustration.
The company has since employed the use of Relay Payments for fuel and unloading payments to reduce fuel fraud and improve processes for its fleet.
Most carriers experience some form of fuel fraud, from physical theft like siphoning to stealing card information, also known as card skimming. With consistently high fuel costs and the monetary, operational and reputational cost associated with fuel fraud, many have turned to technology to mitigate their losses. That technology includes digital payment methods and fleet management software.
Though physical methods of fuel fraud like siphoning and puncturing fuel tanks are still used, as technology has progressed, bad actors have found easier ways to defraud carriers.
Over the last few years, the predominant method has been card skimming – directly correlated to the rise in cardless transactions primarily through mobile apps with limited security, said Steve DeMelis, vice president of product at Comdata.
“The ability to simply enter a card number into a mobile app and facilitate a transaction has made it significantly easier for fraudsters who previously had to rely on stealing the physical card or going through the process of creating a card to attempt a transaction,” DeMelis said.
Though technological advances have made it easier for external bad actors to commit fraud, he said it has greatly decreased the rate at which carriers are seeing internal fuel fraud committed, which has previously been the biggest threat. With digital payment solutions, many carriers are moving away from archaic payment methods like cash and checks – methods that made it easier for internal fraud.
