Five men have been arrested by French authorities for stealing more than 26,000 gallons of fuel from gas stations around Paris. They were able to do that with a special remote which unlocked the gas pumps because nobody had changed the gas pump PINs. The team used a special remote that they bought online and it could unlock a particular brand of gas pump installed at Total stations.
The special remote was able to unlock the gas pumps because some gas station managers had not changed the default lock code on the pumps from the standard 0000. The five-man team would thus need just the simple PIN code to reset the fuel prices and remove any fill-up limits.
The thieves used to operate in small teams of two to three when they visited the gas stations at night in two vehicles. A man in the first car would unlock the pump using the remote and then the second vehicle, usually a van with a tank in the back, would come and fill up as much as 800 gallons in one go.
The fuel that they stole was then advertised on social media. Prospective customers would be given a time and a place where they could come and fill up gasoline and diesel at lower prices. Authorities believe that the thieves were able to make around €150,000 from this racket.
Filed in .. Source: leparisien.fr