Police: Credit Card Thieves Worked As Waiters

TheDenverChannel. ^ | February 6, 2009

[george76]

The credit card numbers stolen from customers at an Asian restaurant last year were taken by three people who offered to work for tips only...

It's believed the threesome stole more than 100 credit card numbers.

Lewis said the three people used English names, but spoke in a Chinese dialect.

Lewis is working with other jurisdictions around the country investigating similar robberies.

"We are sharing information between states,"

[Ditter]

Tell me about it! Last year a charged of $3000 showed up on our American Express bill from a night club in Seoul Korea. We never did figure out where it happened but it was charged a day or 2 after using the card in a cajun restaurant in Houston.

[Frantzie]

People who eat at Chinese buffett restaurants deserve to get screwed. They are all owned by the Chinese Red Army generals who run the country and bring in tons of illegals.

[Carley]

And they are refusing to name the restaurants,

What’s up with that!!!

[D-fendr]

There’s a pretty simple solution to this common scam by waiters.

I don’t know why it goes on.

[Palladin]

I never ever use credit cards in a restaurant. It’s way too easy to get ripped off that way.

[jwparkerjr]

Anytime you let your credit card out of your hand and sight you’re asking for trouble. I am seeing more eateries these days who use a wireless credit card machine to do your check right there at the table, in view of the card holder.

[Stevenc131]

A lot of people are concerned about internet transactions. I had a chat with one of the folks at a credit card company who works in the fraud dept. They said that the vast majority of fraud involves staff in retail stores and restaurants stealing credit card info and that relatively little involves internet purchases (although once the info is stolen, purchases are frequently made on the ‘net).

[SunkenCiv]

Lewis said the three people used English names, but spoke in a Chinese dialect.

Thanks geo.

[Chewbacca]

I always use cash when eating out because of stuff like this.

[BBell]

"People who eat at Chinese buffett restaurants deserve to get screwed. They are all owned by the Chinese Red Army generals who run the country and bring in tons of illegals."

[Cringing Negativism Network]

“I am seeing more eateries these days who use a wireless credit card machine to do your check right there at the table, in view of the card holder.”

-

Frying pan. Meet fire.

Is the wireless connection secure?...

[meyer]

I always use cash when eating out because of stuff like this.

Cash is the best path.

[cynwoody]

No big deal. That's retail fraud. To do real damage, you need automation.

The eastern Europeans are much more skilled at scaling this sort of thing. Here's an example:

The indictment alleges that the trio schemed to break into cash register terminals at various locations of the Dallas-based restaurant chain between April 30 and Sept. 22, 2007. They are accused of stealing credit and debit card Track 2 magnetic stripe data and selling it to others who used it to make fraudulent purchases. Track 2 data includes the customer's account number, expiration data and security code.

Yastremskiy and Suvorov, also known as "Maksik" and "JonnyHell" respectively, allegedly gained unauthorized access to the point-of-sale servers at each restaurant and installed a packet sniffer designed to capture Track 2 data as it moved from the POS servers to the computer system at the restaurant's headquarters and a data processor's network. According to the indictment, the pair falsely represented themselves as being authorized to gain access to the systems.

At each restaurant, the packet sniffer created a file to store the Track 2 data until the suspects collected the information. A defect in the malware shut down the sniffer whenever the compromised POS server rebooted, which forced the men to regularly reactivate the malware, the complaint said.

At a Dave & Buster's restaurant in Islandia, N.Y., the packet sniffer captured data for approximately 5,000 credit and debit cards, which the men sold to others who used the information to make purchases online and at various retail locations, according to the indictment. The theft eventually caused losses of nearly $600,000.

The case highlights the importance of securing POS systems, said Diana Kelley, partner at consulting firm Security Curve.

Duh, Diana. But really, the flaw is in the design of the credit card system. Until that's fixed, POS systems will remain a point of vulnerability.

More recently, Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) had a problem, announced on Inauguration Day. They process transactions for a large number of small retailers. Now we're talking scalability! Wholesale fraud!

But not to worry. Fraud losses are still in the single-digit basis point range. Plastic companies have bigger worries these days.

[cynwoody]

I always use cash when eating out because of stuff like this.

Not me (although I usually have about $500 in my wallet just because I like the feeling).

I pay for pretty much everything with my American Express Card. Restaurants, groceries, gas, drug store, airline, hotel, rental car, internet, computers, you name it! Always paid in full, on the exact due date, using BAC bill-pay (while they last, FDIC ensured). Nice year-end summary, too.

I especially like using the Card abroad. Showing the flag, you know, not that MC and VI and DC were not invented in America, but it helps to have it in the name, if you know what I mean. I'm proud to be the Ugly American.

I've had the card for about three decades, and I've had about three problems. Each was resolved expeditiously with a call to American Express's 800 number.