Woman ‘used petrol station glitch to get £21,000 of free fuel’

Dawn Thompson, 45, is alleged to have repeatedly used the same petrol station - Pump & Pantry in Lincoln, Nebraska - to take more than $27,000 (£21,000) in fuel.

Following a software update in 2022, a glitch had entered the system, allowing people with loyalty cards to put the petrol pumps into demo mode if they swiped their card twice. In this mode, the user could pump gas at no cost, ABC reports.

Over the course of almost a year, Thompson used her card 510 times, which raised suspicions with Bosselman Enterprise’s loss prevention manager.

They contacted police in October last year, who investigated the matter.

When police recovered CCTV from Pump & Petrol, they saw Thompson pumping gas at the station on several occasions.

Police discovered that Between November 13, 2022, and June 1, 2023, the rewards card was used 510 times, including multiple times on the same day.

In total, Thompson was able to get an estimated 7,413.59 gallons of gas, which equated to a monetary value of $27,860.27.

Thompson is also believed to have left another woman use her card for a fee. Authorities suspect other woman paid Thompson $500 to use the card 10 times for "discounted fuel" that would have cost a total of around $700.

The rewards card glitch was fixed on June 1, and it was around that time that Thompson sold the card.

Following months of investigation, Thompson was arrested on March 6 and charged with a count of theft by unlawful taking in the amount of $5,000 or more.

She is due in court on April 11.

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