“Reason why I’d rather pay in cash.”
An Oregon woman’s Citibank credit card was returned due to unusual conditions, attracting attention online.
On April 21, Anna Stover posted a TikTok showing viewers the remainder of her credit card. “Why did I give my credit card to a gas station attendant in Oregon and then get it back?” she asked.
The unusual experience was that her credit card no longer had an EMV chip. “Have you seen this before? They took everything from me […] chip,” Stover said.
Stover did not clarify whether the Chevron gas station attendant did this intentionally. However, many commenters were quick to recommend canceling the card. “Cancel that card,” one commenter wrote.
Another wrote: “New fears unleashed.”
EMV Credit Card Chip: Why Is It Important?
The EMV chip is one of the most important security features of modern credit cards. Unlike older magnetic strips that stored static data on the back of the card that could be copied, the chip contains a tiny microprocessor that creates a unique, one-time encryption code for each face-to-face transaction. This means that even if someone intercepts transaction data, it usually cannot be reused to make fake card purchases.
According to EMVCo, chip technology is used in billions of cards around the world. It is designed to verify card authenticity while helping to reduce counterfeit, lost and stolen card fraud. EMVCo also pointed out that more than 90% of global card transactions are chip-based.
Merchants and banks rely on chips to authenticate cards and exchange encrypted payment information with terminals. Without a chip, many stores may reject the card entirely or require a fallback method, such as swiping a magnetic strip, which may trigger a fraud alert or be blocked by some card issuers.
If the chip is damaged or lost, cardholders may experience declined purchases, ATM issues, or reduced fraud protection. In fact, most banks recommend replacing damaged or physically altered cards immediately. While the account itself may still be open, the physical card no longer operates as expected.
EMV Chip: How likely is it to fall off?
During normal use, it is unlikely that the EMV chip will suddenly fall off. The gold square visible on the front of the card is embedded in a layer of plastic during the manufacturing process. The card is designed to withstand repeated insertion into card readers, flexing in wallets, temperature changes, and years of handling.
While the cards may crack, delaminate, or wear out over time, it’s relatively rare for the wafer itself to cleanly separate into one piece. More typical failures include the chip becoming unreadable, the plastic peeling off around the chip, or the card cracking near the chip after severe wear and tear.
Workers may mistakenly try to pry off a damaged wafer, thinking it is a chip or sticker, although this is uncommon. Someone could also remove it out of curiosity, vandalism, or misunderstanding of how the card works. In more suspicious cases, card tampering may be an attempt to force a customer to use a magnetic stripe or other payment method, although simply removing the chip does not by itself grant access to the account. The actual chip contains the security data, but using it fraudulently is much more difficult than just having a metal contact module.
Since the cause of this situation is unclear, the safest thing to do is to contact your card issuer immediately to block or replace the card and review recent transactions. Even if it’s accidental, chip damage usually means the card needs to be reissued.
AllHipHop reached out to Stover for comment via TikTok private message and email, and to ENVCo via email. We will update this story if either party gets back to us.
Well played by @portlandandeugene ngl #creditcards #fypshi #fypshi゚viral #creditcard #scam ♬ Original Voice – Anna Stover
