In the last financial year, business owners of petrol stations noted that fraud committed by the usage of cards has taken its toll.
This comes after a local business owner in Centurion investigated transactions which he had noted were not justifiable.
In one case, it showed on his cash receipt that a driver had filled the vehicle’s petrol tank with R554,72 worth of petrol, but the card transaction went through as R1954,72. The cashier reimbursed the driver with R1 400 in cash, which is believed to have been pocketed by the driver himself.
Even though this crime is committed mostly by company drivers, it has been noted that schoolchildren also use this tactic to steal money.
Mulder warns that this is a common tactic that many petrol filling owners in Pretoria have experienced. “This crime is usually committed through card transaction, especially at filling stations,” Mulder said.
When Mulder investigated this matter, he confronted the companies which were affected by the scam. To him it seemed that companies did not monitor the financial transactions done on the cards properly.
“One of the companies admitted that they had realised their vehicles used more petrol than usual, but did not make anything of it until I showed them the transaction that had been made on the company’s card,” he said.
The filling station’s shift balance normally balances, whereas the company’s statement only shows the amount that has been withdrawn on the card and not the reimbursement.
In another case it came to light that a driver committed this type of fraud regularly, causing the company a loss of R60 000 since February.
Through his investigation, Mulder realised that this is an old trick, but it seems to have taken its toll in the past year. What worries him most is the fact that companies seem to be oblivious to this type of fraud. They entrust the company card to their drivers and expect honesty.
According to Mulder, the only solution for companies and cardholders is to insist on cash receipts to confirm that the driver has received the correct amount of fuel, the amount that appears on the card slip.
It is not the responsibility of petrol stations to compare each card transaction with the sale on their system. It is the customers’ liability to ensure that the card is not misused.
The petrol stations have a policy that no cash may be paid out to an overpaid amount on a card transaction. The reimbursement should be made by reversing the credit on the card transaction. Bribes are sometimes involved, especially with poverty being so prominent.
*Pseudonym
