A Nebraska woman has found herself in trouble with the law after exploiting a glaring flaw in a fuel station pump, resulting in over £21000 ($27,000) worth of free fuel. The security loophole was so simple that anyone could have stumbled upon it, but it seems she may have pushed her luck too far.
45-year-old Dawn Thompson from Lincoln, Nebraska, is accused of taking advantage of a programming error at a local gas station to pump, and in some instances, resell, more than 7,400 gallons of fuel without paying.
In November 2022, the pumps at the station were updated with software containing a hidden test mode, allowing fuel to be dispensed without payment. This mode could be activated by swiping a loyalty card twice, a feature Thompson might have discovered. Alternatively, she may have been informed about it by the man who gave her the card to settle a debt. Unfortunately, this man has since passed away, making it impossible to verify.
Police believe Thompson used this method to pump gas without payment on 510 occasions between November 13, 2022, and June 1, 2023. She would swipe the card multiple times per day on some occasions and charge others to use her card. However, this strategy ultimately led to her downfall.
When the security loophole was fixed on June 1, Thompson sold the card. However, the police traced one of her customers who revealed that she had promised them ‘discounted fuel’ and sold them $500 worth of fuel, which would have cost $700 at retail price. Thanks to repeated card use, security footage, and information from the station’s loss prevention manager, Thompson was identified and arrested on March 6. She now faces one count of theft of more than $5,000.
