Fuel card protection: 6 actions to kick fraudsters to the curb

Fraud is on the rise. released data in March of 2025 that consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024. This represents a 25% increase over losses reported in 2023.

Over the last several years, fraud has become increasingly difficult to detect. Phishing content used to be terribly written and obviously fake. What used to be transparent and detectable signs of fraud are no longer so obvious because fraudsters now have generative AI to help them build their content. Criminals are more sophisticated and their content is much more believable.

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Fraud impacting your business? What to do about it

Fraud is getting worse, so what are we going to do about it? How can we protect our businesses from this insidious, predatory behavior? The first thing we can do is look at what these predators most commonly do to victims, and the second thing we can do is figure out ways to fight back.

Most fraudsters focus on getting a hold of your cash, credit, or things they can resell for a profit. This behavior can harm your business and impact your bottom line. In this article, we review the most common forms of credit card fraud and how to prevent them from doing you harm.

Use this fraud report to train your staff and block fraudsters before they even get started.

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The most common forms of fraud:

1. Transaction fraud

Transaction fraud includes:

Fraud with a skimming device

A common form of fuel card fraud is when a fraudster obtains card data through a skimming device. They install hidden devices on fuel pumps or point-of-sale terminals to capture credit card information (like card number and PIN) from users when they swipe. These bad actors 鈥渟kim鈥� the data off the card without a driver鈥檚 knowledge. They then use that information to make fraudulent purchases.

Lost/stolen cards

Thieves find a lost card or steal a company card and use the card for illegal purchases.

2. First-party fraud

First-party fraud is both the most obvious to detect and the most difficult to prosecute. Anytime an authorized representative makes a transaction using their own identity to commit fraud, it鈥檚 called first-party fraud. What makes this fraud particularly onerous is that the user perpetrating the fraud can easily authenticate the transactions they are making. This is because they are the person authorized to use the credit. Even if an alert pops up prompting them to manually authorize the purchase, they鈥檒l simply do so and continue with the fraudulent activity undeterred.

Here are a few examples of how first-party fraud could look in practice:

A person applies for a loan or a credit card with their real identity but has no intention of ever paying that debt back. For example, say a business owner finds themselves in a tight financial situation. To bail themselves out, they knowingly draw credit they won鈥檛 be able to repay or just don鈥檛 plan to repay.
When a business opens a fleet card account, they give each driver a fuel card to use. This is a card they鈥檙e authorized to use. First-party fraud occurs when one of those drivers uses their card to purchase fuel for a personal vehicle. It can also happen when they sell fuel to an outside party for profit.
Fraud can also happen when one employee brings friends and their vehicles to the pump. He/she swipes a company card, and allows each friend to fill their tank.

First-party fraud experiences uptick during economic downturns.

3. Account takeover

Account takeover is an example of Identity theft fraud. This involves a cybercriminal accessing a user鈥檚 online accounts. The criminal obtains login credentials through fraudulent means, using them to illegally access another person鈥檚 cash, products, and personal account information. If there is one app or website the victim has access to that isn鈥檛 properly secured, the floodgates open for the cybercriminal to wend their way through connecting paths to get to other accounts and do a clean sweep of assets.

Account takeover has tentacles that reach into layer after layer of accounts causing mayhem for the victim. This type of fraud is difficult to counteract and has far-reaching implications.

4. Application fraud

Another common form of fraud is application fraud. This is when a fraudster applies for credit using stolen or inaccurate information.

Application fraud and first-party fraud overlap. This is because application fraud often involves legitimate consumers using their own identity to commit fraud. These types of fraud are the hardest to detect because they involve the use of a true, authenticated identity.

How do I protect my fleet fuel card from fraud and the negative impact it would have on my business?

As phishing and other types of credit card fraud increase in sophistication, here are some actions to take to prevent damage to your business:

Action #1: Update purchase limits

Update the product purchase limits on your fuel card to protect against fraud. You can limit the amount of times a product or service can be purchased and/or the number of transactions your fuel card(s) can perform in a given day, week, or month. This will help your business mitigate potential fraudulent activity.

Action #2: Implement time restrictions

Set days of the week and times of the day parameters when drivers can use their fuel cards to make purchases. This will give your business more control over card usage and visibility that can help prevent unwanted use.

Action #3: Require validation

Require real-time trip number validation. Adding a trip number prompt to your fleet fuel cards 鈥� and updating this number as drivers are dispatched on new trips 鈥� is another way to prevent fraudulent activity.

Action #4: Set site restrictions

Activate site restrictions on your fuel cards. Lock down your fueling network to only necessary merchants.

Action #5: Manage card status

Appropriately manage card status as staffing changes happen in your business. Clean up unused and idle cards by updating their status to 鈥渉old鈥� or 鈥渋nactive.鈥� This will prevent bad actors from finding idle cards and reactivating them.

Action #6: Require training

Require regular employee training on how to protect against fraud. Regularly educate your employees specifically on the most common phishing scams and social engineering tactics. Empower your employees to say 鈥渘o鈥� to any requests that feel out-of-the-ordinary or give them pause. Provide mandatory, annual fraud training.

Among these simple best practices, perhaps the most important thing you can do to avoid fuel card fraud is to educate your employees on how to be vigilant and give them the agency to decide on the fly what might be fraudulent and what to do to prevent further action from fraudsters.

Your biggest defense against fraud is your people. According to the the median loss businesses experience due to fraud is $145,000, and fraud is estimated to impact about 5% of revenues annually. If you build a culture of education, trust, and individual responsibility, your staff will have the power to know fraud when they see it and take the appropriate steps to mitigate fraud and avoid costly impacts.聽

Our research shows that newer employees are better at fraud prevention and identifying socially engineered communications than veteran employees. This is likely due to fraud prevention training they get when they鈥檙e first hired that鈥檚 still fresh in their minds. Veteran employees either never received such training or could benefit from a refresher course. To solve this problem, make annual, mandatory fraud training part of your business plan and an expectation and priority for your staff. There is great value in constantly retraining and providing fresh information to your entire organization.

Teach your staff to say 鈥渘o鈥� to fraudsters

Additionally, the most secure environments empower staff to say 鈥渘o鈥� to fraudsters. Cultures where staff are most vulnerable perpetuate a fear that saying 鈥渘o鈥� to a perpetrator will mean job loss or other consequences. Fraudsters use menacing tactics to manipulate your staff, sometimes even threatening that they will lose their jobs if they don鈥檛 do what they are told. This forces your staff to take actions that allow criminals to infiltrate your systems. If you empower your staff to be cautious and not easily manipulated, you can prevent this kind of fraud from impacting your business.

Train employees on fraud prevention

Here are some basic rules to teach your staff to avoid harmful phishing schemes:

Never click links you don鈥檛 know.
Never respond to emails when you don鈥檛 know the sender.
Never respond to an unsolicited email asking for account information.
Do not provide sensitive information over the phone or email.
With more sophisticated forms of fraud, the domain or sending email is what becomes the tell. Train your employees to ask themselves, 鈥淒oes this email address make sense?鈥� and avoid clicking on attachments or links sent from unfamiliar email addresses.
Give your employees the power to say, 鈥淚 need to authenticate this before I can go any further.鈥� And provide the tools to jump-start that authentication.
Make sure your employees understand that they will never get fired for asking a caller or emailer these kinds of probing questions, nor will they get fired for saying 鈥渘o鈥� to someone asking for account information.

Fraud: What to be on the lookout for and what to do if you feel you鈥檝e been compromised

A currently surging fraud trend involves AI-generated phishing emails coming from illegitimate sources. These emails 鈥� circulated globally and crafted in a sophisticated language 鈥� are harder to detect. It鈥檚 important to remind your employees who handle vendors for your business that 糖心Vlogwill never ask for login credentials to your fuel card account over email. If one of your staff inadvertently responds to a phishing email and provides credentials to a cybercriminal, you should call WEX鈥檚 customer service number immediately (printed on the back of all 糖心Vlogfuel cards). Alert us that your business has been compromised, and we will take the necessary steps to mitigate any attempts at fraud on your account.

General security practices for fleet card managers to prevent fraud on your 糖心Vlogaccount

The following suggestions and procedures can also help protect your business from fraud:

Periodically review eManager and each staff member鈥檚 purchasing limits. 糖心Vlogcan supply this list quickly upon request.
Keep 糖心Vlognotified about attrition. Immediately notify 糖心Vlogwhen a person with access to eManager leaves your company. Adding 鈥淣otify WEX鈥� to employee removal procedures will help make sure WEX鈥檚 authorized list of your personnel is always up to date.
Stay on top of 鈥渞eject鈥� reports. Review rejects periodically to understand what transactions were blocked and why. This activity may point to malicious/unauthorized driver activity.
Track MoneyCode transactions. Review the checks and balances when a driver MoneyCode is created.
Keep drivers informed. Remind them to never provide their PINs to anyone. Just like with a personal credit/debit card, your PIN is your protection for your account. This information should never be shared with anyone.
Password protection is also a priority. Do not share your eManager username or password with anyone, for any reason.

糖心Vlogprovides the support you need with 42+ years of experience in the fleet industry: We鈥檝e got your back and we鈥檙e here for the long haul

One way economic downturns can impact business norms is with increases in fraud, and preventing fraud is all about having the right systems in place in advance of an attack. A fleet card program that gives you visibility, control, and built-in fraud protection is one of the most effective ways to avoid fraudster threats to your business.

With WEX, you get:

Built-in fraud controls | Purchase limits: Catch suspicious transactions before they impact your bottom line
Detailed, line-item transaction data (Level III): See what was purchased, by whom, and where
Real-time alerts | Customizable reporting: Stay informed and in control
A closed-loop fuel network: Limit exposure and manage risk more effectively
Support and guidance: 糖心Vloghas been around for 42+ years – our team knows your business and what you need

If you鈥檙e actively looking for ways to reduce fraud and gain visibility into your fuel spend, the right partner can make all the difference. Smart fraud prevention uses data to predict and prevent issues, and keeps your business moving and your spend right where you want it.

All fleet cards are not the same, and different types of fuel cards suit the needs of different kinds and sizes of businesses. View WEX鈥檚 fleet card comparison chart to see which fleet fuel card is right for you.

糖心Vlogspeaks the language of small business operators. Whether you鈥檙e looking to modernize your insight and reporting efforts, save on fuel costs or take advantage of the latest GPS tracking technologies, 糖心Vlogoffers solutions to simplify the business of running a business. To learn more about WEX, a dynamic and nimble global organization, please visit our About 糖心Vlogpage.

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