What catches HN at the right time is always a little strange. I submitted the gas pump skimmer article four days before it topped HN and got blogged about heavily on other sites.
Much more likely, this post got several upvotes quickly because users recognized the story (and its relation to HN) from earlier today. The algorithm heavily rewards early upvotes.
Weird seeing a repost on the website where a lot of the story unfolded on the same day.