Protect Your Fleet from Fuel Card Fraud

Fuel fraud is one of the biggest risks that fleet managers face during their operations.

It is important for crimes of this nature to be prevented; fleets are already suffering due to increased fuel costs, so losing money to fraud could be catastrophic.

How to prevent fuel card fraud

A number of simple steps can be taken to prevent yourself from being victimised by fraudsters.

1. Separate PINs for each card

Perhaps the most obvious security measure is setting up a separate PIN for each fuel card that only the holder knows. That way, you can be certain that the holder has been misusing their card if fraud is detected.

2. One fuel card per driver

On a similar note, assign a fuel card to a single driver and vehicle. Sharing fuel cards is not good practice as it becomes much harder to keep track of who purchased fuel for which vehicle at a specific time – fuel fraud can easily slip through unnoticed.

3. Set limits on each card

Setting a limit on your fuel cards are a great way to prevent fraud. These limits can dictate how much can be spent per day, or precisely which fuel type is allowed to be bought with the card.

4. Keep on eye on your spend

Use My Fleet Hub to set up transaction reports to monitor your spend. If you spot anything unusual, get in touch! You can complete the attached report and our team can look into the transactions for you.

5. Stop Lost or Stolen cards immediately

Lost, stolen or unaccounted for cards can be stopped on My Fleet Hub. Help on how to do this can be found here, alternatively you can contact the support team for help.

Preventing external fuel fraud when on the road

Many fuel providers have steps in place to monitor transactions and detect unusual behaviour. This includes sophisticated CCTV coverage at fuel stations, a dedicated and on hand expert fraud team, multiple anti-fraud checks on every transaction and alerts to quickly find out when a card is misused, based on parameters set by fleet managers.

Despite these efforts, it’s imperative that drivers are educated on how to avoid fuel card fraud. Below are some helpful tips to help you protect your company and your drivers;

1. When leaving the vehicle, always lock it and take documents including the fuel cards with you as criminals know the perfect hiding places in which to look for valuable things.
2. Never leave the keys to your vehicle in deposit or with service personnel of a facility you visit.
3. Plan your stopovers before you leave and make sure you stop at reliable parking lots, considered by drivers as safe.
4. When resting in your vehicle, keep the documents and the cards with you, and lock your vehicle from the inside.
5. Do not underestimate any signs of burglary or third party visits to the vehicle. Even if nothing has been stolen, report this incident immediately to your company! In this situation, the data from the magnetic strip of your card could have been copied.
6. Check that you have YOUR cards before setting off; when a vehicle is broken into, cards are not stolen, they are simply replaced. This is intended to delay the detection and reporting of the theft.
7. Stay alert! Pay attention to whether someone is watching you or the vehicle during a stopover, trying to make contact in an intrusive way or asking about the route.
8. If someone tries to persuade you to sell the card or make it available for the purpose of scanning data from the magnetic strip, please report it to your company. Such information will also be extremely valuable for BP, especially if it took place in car parks or in the vicinity of service stations.

Protect the PIN code for your card and don’t write it down! Ensure to cover the key pad when entering your PIN and be aware of your surroundings.

What to do if you believe you have fraudulent transactions

1. Cancel the card immediately. 

Help on how to do this can be found here, alternatively you can contact the support team for help.

2. Contact the police.

The police will provide a crime reference number and this will be referenced with the suppliers to obtain the CCTV footage. The CCTV footage can only be viewed by the police due to GDPR regulations. 

3. Contact the FCS Admin team

Email the admin team at cards@fuelcardservices.com with the completed questionnaire. The team will then contact the suppliers to obtain the CCTV footage where possible and any additional information to help with the query.  

The team will then keep in contact with you to confirm when the CCTV footage is ready for the police to view.