Using the cards is great (at least if you pay them off right away), but the skimming stuff is pretty nasty. I sometimes walk to the cashier and pay there, when eating out (if possible). For gas stations, it’s actually easy to protect yourself - simply look at some of the other pumps and if readers don’t all look the same drive away (it’s really unlikey they’re skimming more than one pump).
Credit Cards are really the safest. And there is huge motivation for the CC companies to nip a fraud in the bud. They are liable.
DON’T USE A DEBIT CARD.
What would one look for at a gas station pump?