Fuel card fraud is costing Australian businesses serious money. The ACFE’s 2026 Report to the Nations analysed over US$3.4 billion in losses across 2,402 occupational fraud cases worldwide and estimates organisations lose around 5% of annual revenue to occupational fraud each year. For fleet operators, these numbers represent real losses that directly impact profitability, sometimes without fleet managers even realising it is happening.
Understanding how fuel card scams work and implementing prevention measures is essential for protecting your fleet operation. Fuel cards like WEX Motorpass build much of that protection in, with purchase controls and real-time fraud alerts that help stop misuse before it happens.
What Is Fuel Card Fraud?
Fuel card fraud occurs when someone uses a company fuel card for unauthorised purposes. This can happen in several ways, and the scope is broader than most fleet managers realise.
First-party fraud happens when authorised cardholders abuse their privileges. A driver might swipe their company card to fill up their personal vehicle on the weekend or bring mates to the petrol station and fill multiple vehicles at the company’s expense. A significant share of fleet fuel theft originates inside the business rather than with external criminals, which is why internal controls matter as much as external security.
Third-party fraud involves external criminals who steal or clone cards. Card skimming at petrol stations, where devices capture card information, has become increasingly sophisticated. Criminals also engage in card cloning and outright theft. Left unchecked, fleet card fraud can add up quickly across a fuel budget.
The consequences extend beyond immediate financial losses. Theft and fraud across fuel, maintenance and other operational costs can represent a significant portion of your operating budget.
Why Fuel Card Fraud Is Increasing
Several factors have contributed to the rise in fleet card fraud. Fuel prices have surged in recent years, making fuel a more valuable target for thieves. As prices climb, service stations across Australia have reported more drive-offs and fuel theft, and the pressure is showing up in fleets too.
South Australian police reported a 37% jump in fuel thefts in just one week in March 2026, with 97 first-time offenders. That increase suggests economic pressures are pushing people who would not normally steal to commit these crimes.
For businesses, the combination of rising fuel costs and increasingly sophisticated fraud techniques makes strong fraud controls a priority. Solutions like WEX Motorpass can help reduce that exposure, with purchase controls and spend limits that let you set what, where and how much each card can spend, plus transaction-level reporting that makes unusual activity easier to spot.
Common Types of Fleet Card Fraud
Understanding how fuel card scams work is essential for prevention. The most common methods include:
Personal use of company cards: drivers filling their personal vehicles or family members’ cars
Fuel resale schemes: employees purchasing fuel with company cards and selling it to third parties for profit
Card skimming: criminals installing devices at petrol stations that capture card data for cloning
Unauthorised purchases: using fuel cards to buy non-fuel items when controls aren’t in place
Sharing cards: one employee allowing multiple unauthorised individuals to use their assigned card
Fuel theft is a widespread problem across commercial fleets, not an isolated concern.
How to Prevent Fuel Card Fraud: Practical Steps
Prevention requires a multi-layered approach. Here is what works.
Implement Strong Card Controls
Set purchase restrictions on every card. Limit what can be purchased (fuel only, no convenience store items), where cards can be used (approved locations only), and when they can be used (during work hours only). Require odometer readings or vehicle identification at each transaction. These simple controls eliminate many opportunistic fraud attempts. WEX Motorpass card controls let you apply these limits across every card.
Regular Auditing and Monitoring
Compare fuel receipts with digital logs regularly. Monitor fuel levels relative to distance travelled and analyse fuel consumption patterns to identify anomalies. Look for inconsistencies between the amount purchased and the amount logged. Companies that implement comprehensive monitoring systems often see meaningful reductions in theft within the first year.
Watch for irregular refuelling patterns, such as more frequent stops than necessary or purchases from non-approved locations. Fuel receipts that don’t align with the vehicle’s location or route at the time of purchase should trigger immediate scrutiny. WEX Motorpass transaction reporting makes these checks easier by putting every transaction in one place.
Build a Culture of Education and Accountability
Your biggest defence against fraud is your people. Make sure every driver understands what constitutes fraud and the consequences. Organisations with dedicated fraud detection and prevention programmes tend to see measurable savings through prevention measures.
Create clear policies about acceptable card use and communicate these during onboarding and regularly thereafter. When staff understand the rules and know they are being monitored, first-party fraud drops significantly.
Invest in Technology
Modern fuel card systems use AI-driven fraud detection to identify suspicious patterns in real time. Advanced systems can flag transactions that deviate from established patterns, such as fuelling outside usual routes, unusual transaction amounts, or rapid successive purchases.
WEX Motorpass Security Controls vs. Standard Bank Cards
While standard commercial credit cards offer convenience, they lack protection against unauthorised fuel spending. Purpose-built fleet solutions like WEX Motorpass replace retroactive expense tracking with real-time, point-of-sale purchase controls.
The table below highlights how dedicated fuel card controls compare to traditional bank cards:
Security Feature
Standard Commercial Credit / Debit Card
WEX Motorpass Fuel Card
Merchant Category Controls
Broad usage (allows convenience store, retail, and non-fuel purchases).
Fuel & Oil Only: Restrict purchases exclusively to fuel and vehicle maintenance.
Point-of-Sale Authorisation
Basic signature or standard PIN.
Driver Authentication: Mandatory Driver ID, PIN, and odometer prompt before pump activation.
Time & Spend Restrictions
Monthly credit ceiling only.
Granular Limits: Set custom daily/weekly spend caps, time-of-day blocks, and day-of-week limits.
Fraud Detection
Standard retroactive bank chargeback monitoring.
Real-Time AI Detection: Automated flagging of out-of-route, rapid-successive, or anomalous fills.
The Best Approach: Layered Controls
The most effective fraud prevention strategy relies on combining strict card-level controls with proactive transaction monitoring. Use custom purchase restrictions – such as fuel-only parameters, daily dollar caps, and driver PIN prompts – as your first line of defense to block unauthorised spending at the pump. Layer real-time transaction reporting and AI anomaly detection on top to continuously analyse purchasing behavior across your fleet. Together, point-of-sale controls and real-time transaction oversight create an end-to-end security system that prevents theft before it happens and flags irregular activity instantly.
Protect Your Fleet with WEX Motorpass Fuel Cards
At WEX, we have built fraud prevention directly into our WEX Motorpass fuel card system. WEX Motorpass provides enterprise-grade fraud protection engineered specifically for Australian fleets:
Automatic pump shut off that stops transactions when preset limits are reached
Real-time alerts for unusual transactions sent directly to fleet managers
AI fraud detection that continuously monitors transaction patterns and flags suspicious activity
SecureFuel location checking that verifies purchases are happening at legitimate fuel sites
Access to over 6,500 fuel locations across Australia, giving you control without limiting your drivers (see our network coverage)
Customisable purchase controls let you restrict what, where and when drivers can buy. You will also receive detailed reporting on every purchase and the ability to set spending limits per card or per time period.
We understand that every minute your drivers spend managing cards is time they are not on the road, which is why we have made the system straightforward and efficient. The platform automates manual processes and gives you the data you need to make informed decisions.
Ready to protect your fleet from fuel card fraud and take control of your fuel spending with the security features your business needs?
