1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196 
Firm faces full bill for fuel fraud
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A Scottish haulier who was stung for 22,000 in a sophisticated fuel card fraud is outraged that he has been saddled with the full cost of the stolen diesel.
Fuel was credited to Dunfermline firm Forth Tyres' account after fraudsters stole the firm's details from its fuel card last April—without actually taking the card itself.
Increasingly sophisticated methods are now being used by criminals to obtain the card details. With the help of a crooked garage employee it is possible to install a device that reads and stores data from a card's magnetic strip—which can then be implanted onto a new phoney card.
Over 2,000 litres were drawn on the card in one day from a filling station in Bannockburn, alerting an eagle-eyed cashier to the fraud. Two further withdrawals were then made on the card over the next two days; one at Perth Harbour and the other at Penrith. Suspects were seen on CCTV footage at the Bannockburn site loading fuel into a curtain-sided trailer. Police say they have sent a report naming three men to the Procurator Fiscal.
But Kenny Johnson, director of Forth Tyres, says he's been made to feel like the guilty party.
"We've been treated like the criminals here. We've had 22,000 taken from our account and, although we've been charged for the crime, we've not been reimbursed."
He also warns other operators to be vigilant: "It's amazing how easily this is done. Everyone's heard about it with credit cards, but not fuel cards before."
Fuel card company CH Jones says: "The card is run by Johnston Oils, which is a dealer for the CH Jonesowned brand Diesel Direct. After irregular transactions were identified the card was placed on stop and the police were advised."