Double-Swiping the Rewards Card Led to Free Gas for Months—and a Felony Theft Charge

LINCOLN, Neb.—A Nebraska woman allegedly found a lucrative quirk at a gas station pump—double-swipe the rewards card and get free gas! Unfortunately for her, you can’t do that, prosecutors said. The 45-year-old woman was arrested March 6 and faces felony theft charges accusing her of a crime that cost the gas station nearly $28,000. Prosecutors say the woman exploited the system over a period of several months. Police learned of the problem in October when the loss-prevention manager at Bosselman Enterprises reported that the company’s Pump & Pantry in Lincoln had been scammed. Fuel pumps at the station received a software update in November 2022 that managed, among other things, rewards cards. But the company was unaware of a glitch that allowed anyone swiping a rewards card twice to put a gas pump into demonstration mode. In demo mode, the user could pump gas at no cost....