Waiters in 40 restaurants recorded customers' credit card info and sold it to others who made $3 Million of illegal purchases.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your credit card when you stick in your bill book at dinner and a waiter walks away with it? Apparently they could be doing alot with it, including saving all the card's information and selling it to scammers. Diners in New York, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Connecticut all fell victim to the scam.
After their credit card information was recorded the group of criminals made counterfeit cards, shopped for merchandise, and then sold the goods to fencers for cash. All parties included are looking at up to four years in prison for the crimes. Seven of the 13 are being charged with second-degree larceny which carries up to 15 years in prison.
The fact that the criminals were caught does not change the fact that there are waiters and waitresses out there that are going to steal your credit card numbers when you pay your bill. I expect we soon will see a major change in the way credit card transactions are handled in restaurants due to this occurrence. I for one will never feel safe giving my card to a waitstaff employee again, fearing that my next months bill will be for $200,000.00 of items I did not purchase. I never really even thought about it before, but this changes everything.
