The French edition of Le Parisien reported the arrest of five people who had stolen more than 120,000 liters of gasoline from gas stations near Paris.
Grouping of gas stations hacked with a type of remote access device purchased online. The device made it possible to unlock certain models of gasoline pumps at Total gas stations. This became possible because gas station employees very often forget to change the default PIN code of the gasoline pumps, which is set by default to “0000.” As a result, the hackers were able to enter a PIN code, reset prices, and get rid of the other restrictions.
As a general rule, the attackers worked in groups of two or three people and went to the gas station at night, in two cars. The people in the first car unlocked a gas station, after which a team arrived in a second car (usually a van) and poured 2,000 to 3,000 liters of fuel at a time into a tank installed directly in the vehicle.
After that, the attackers sold the stolen goods, advertised their services on social media, and gave the time and place when and where potential buyers could get cheap gasoline and diesel. Law enforcement estimates that the attackers were able to earn about 150,000 euros from selling the stolen fuel.
Last year in Detroit, United States, a gas station was robbed of $1,800 worth of fuel while employees were trying to figure out what was happening and blocking the operation of the pumps. As a result, police concluded that the fuel dispensing systems had been deliberately compromised using a remote access device.
