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Hope I did not tip the bas more than 15%.
This happened to me 3 months ago, some waiter copied my card evidently, in one of these skimmers, and my credit card was being charged in New Zeland and Brazil. My card was denied and when I talked to the Visa people on the phone, they told me that there were some su ious charges being made and they temporarily froze my account. When I got home, I called them and they told me that there were charges being made in other countries and asked me if they were legit. I said no, of course, and asked them how much. There were over two thousand dollars in false charges.
Here is a story about it-
Crooks with portable bank-card readers are getting away with $60 million a year. Your credit or debit card could be 'skimmed' at a store, a restaurant, even an ATM.
Brad Lipman's dinner out with his family turned out to be much more expensive than he expected, at least temporarily.
When he paid for the meal last summer with his debit card, someone in the restaurant -- he still doesn't know who -- swiped it through a portable card reader, which copied the account information. Within a few weeks, thousands of dollars had been stolen from his bank account.
Lipman, who lives in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is one of thousands of people affected by "skimming," criminals stealing credit card information when cards are used at ATMs, restaurants or other retail locations. Skimmers siphon about $60 million a year from bank accounts, according to the Electronic Funds Transfer Association.
"We're seeing more of it," says Todd Davis, the chief executive of the security company LifeLock in Tempe, Ariz. One common technique, he says, is placing a skimming device over the card slot of an ATM. The skimmer looks like a piece of plastic to guide cards into the slot, but it picks up bank information as the card slides through.
More ATM use means more incidents
People can purchase skimming machines, which are also called portable magnetic credit card readers, through online sites such as eBay for around $200. The devices, which are about the size of a small stapler and contain a slot for card swiping, electronically read cards' magnetic strips and store the data. The data are then transferred to a computer and used to make copycat cards, which can make purchases.
The devices are also used for legal purposes, such as registering conference attendees or making sales at small retail stores. An eBay spokeswoman said that the company allows the sale of the devices because they are legal, but that sellers are prohibited from marketing the devices for fraudulent use under the company's policy against encouraging illegal activity.
Kurt Helwig, the president of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, which promotes electronic commerce, says that though the number of skimming incidents as a percentage of overall ATM use hasn't grown, the increase in ATM use overall means that skimming is happening more often. Although it's still a rare occurrence and there's no need to avoid ATMs, he says, consumers should be wary.
"If you see something that looks funny or doesn't look right, with wires hanging out or a stupid sign (directing consumers to a different card slot), don't use that ATM, and let someone know," Helwig says.
Here are tips for restoring your credit after you've been victimized.
Banks must reimburse
Many banks have added security measures, such as monitoring ATMs with physical inspections as well as electronically during off hours, when skimming is most likely to occur. Margie Green, a spokeswoman for Wachovia, says the bank's ATMs are under watch 24 hours a day. Like most banks, Wachovia reimburses customers for any losses they incur from a skimming scam. By law, banks must reimburse customers for all but $50 of their losses, as long as they report the problem in a timely fashion.
Still, falling victim to skimming is not pleasant. Even though his money was refunded, "I felt absolutely as violated as can be," says Lipman, who has since started a company, TablePay Solutions, to help prevent skimming. The company distributes a machine to retailers that allows customers to swipe their own card, never allowing it out of their sight.
Hope I did not tip the bas more than 15%.
That's why I put everything on my AMEX. I hate for that to happen to me.
Does not approve.
when I was a waitress I worked with a girl who was a thiefer.
she would enter all of the customers food items except for thier drinks, then she would print thier ticket and hand add in the drinks (2 Tea - $2.50) with a big smilie face and a "thanks! ~Nina" at the bottom of the tab.
the patrons would then pay her the new total PLUS a tip.
So she was scamming them for more $ and 'stealing' the cost of the tea/soda/juice from the restaurant.
she got fired.
But this CC thing is much worse. That sux dude.Sorry that happened.
We had major trouble with our Amex back in March. Someone was charging illegally on our card for two months. Amex pissed us off and had we not had major points to cash in we would have cancelled our account. They even gave us a new card and the thieves were still able to make daily $20 charges on our OLD cancelled card. American Express said we authorized it so techinically they could still do it.We never authorized it, that was the point of cancelling the old card. Stupid idiots.
I haven't had that happen (knocks wood), but there's been a few times when they've added more to the tip and we always tip around 20%.
With some people, if there is a scam then they will pull it off.
Did you prove that it was the waiter or waitress that stole your card number? Often times, databases with people's card numbers are hacked and the compromise is never detected. My friend's credit card number was for sale on a Russian web site and Visa found it and revoked his card for the interim. Visa told him that it was probably stolen out of an on-line database.
I never knew whick restaurant this happened in, since we eat out at least 3 times a week, it was next to impossible to determine where this happened.
We did the whole fraud alert thing and so far (crossing fingers) we haven't had any problems. We use Amex for almost everything for a couple of reasons... 1> points 2> you have to pay it off every month so you don't have a balance 3> it forces you to keep track of your spending
I've been hit with fraudulent charges on my cards twice, and had my info stolen and had fraudulent cards issued and credit issued. I'm still fighting that to this day.
The Amex I have has all sorts of protection and junk on it. It's all free, so better safe than sorry.We had major trouble with our Amex back in March. Someone was charging illegally on our card for two months. Amex pissed us off and had we not had major points to cash in we would have cancelled our account. They even gave us a new card and the thieves were still able to make daily $20 charges on our OLD cancelled card. American Express said we authorized it so techinically they could still do it.
Dude, that's where I live! They couldn't at least tell me WHICH restaurant to avoid?
I used Amex a couple of years ago and it's a good card to have.....if you have the cash to always pay it off...
60 million a year!!! WOW.
another good reason to pay in cash
Waiters actually wish you'd pay with cash too. They get with the cooks, have them make a few plates through out the night with out ringing them up, and bam, theres an extra 100 bucks that night on top of their tips.another good reason to pay in cash
I had a GM when I was younger set an example by having the fuzz come in and arrest a waiter at a preshift meeting. That pretty much stopped everyone else in that restaurant from ing around with credit cards.
But yeah, this goes on every where your credit card is used. Not just in restaurants. Numbers are a big business.
I pay for all kinds of things in cash-- often gets you a better deal, especially for things I have done at my house.
You can afford it.
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