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“Full service” obviously means an attendant pumps your gas, but verifying the attendant and making sure he or she even is an attendant has become extremely important.

An imposter scam has made its way around some area gas stations. Low on gas, you pull into a gas station and an attendant comes to your window. He may ask for some money.

If you are like many of us, you probably don't pay much attention to the attendant. That's what the imposter is hoping for.

In one version, he pumps your gas but keeps the money and disappears down the road.

In the other version, he hooks up your pump to auto fill, then runs off with the money.

You’re stuck with a tank full of gas you thought you paid for already but actually didn't.

In the first version, the gas station pays, in the second the consumer forks over more money.

In both, a fake gas attendant runs off with cash.

“You need to pay attention. You gotta look and see if the guy’s wearing a shirt, if the guy came out of the office. If you use the same gas station all the time and you’re not familiar with the guy, talk to him, question him,” says Christopher Ganpat, a gas station owner.

Many stations have cameras in place to monitor activity at the pump. Some record and might make an imposter think twice.

Some newer stations have a system in place to prevent this kind of theft. The real attendants are issued a special keycard that slides like a credit card but actually unlocks the pump and documents a cash sale.

If your attendant has no card, you receive no gas. Make sure you look for it before you hand over cash.

There are about a zillion imposter scams. Most rely on doing a familiar task and paying little attention.

“People don’t pay attention. What are you going to do?” says Ganpat.

That's easy: start paying attention to all transactions.