Photo: AFP Contributor / AFP / Getty Images
A woman in Lincoln exposed a glitch that allowed her to pump thousands of gallons of fuel for free.
Dawn Thompson, has been charged with one count of theft for over $5,000, as she pumped free gas for more than six months. The Pump and Pantry fuel pumps received a software update that was exploitable. It allowed anyone to swipe a rewards card twice to enter the pump into a demo mode, where the user could pump gas for free. It was discovered that one particular card had been repeatedly used, and was traced to identify Thompson.
Video surveillance showed Thompson pumping fuel between Nov. 13, 2022 and June 1, 2023, for a total of 510 times. It was estimated that 7,413.59 gallons of gasoline were pumped at an estimated average fuel cost of $3.758 per gallon, bringing the total loss to $27,860.27.
Police learned that another person used the card to get “discounted fuel,” as part of an arrangement that the woman would pay Thompson $500 for $700 worth of gas between 10 uses. Thompson sold the card after the exploit was fixed, and that she received the card as payment from a man paying off a car debt.
Thompson was arrested and her hearing is scheduled for April 11.