I recently ran across a news story about customers discovering some extra charges from a local restaurant they had frequented that started to appear on credit card bills. Customers started to complain and several of them contacted the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau for Consumer Protection
Needless to say, this explanation ended up being shared with local police and several store employees were brought up on charges of credit card fraud.
To prevent situations like this, first make sure to double check your receipts before signing them at restaurants. In this particular instance, it’s possible that the fraudulent tip amount was added to the bill after the customers had left the restaurant.
Never, ever leave the tip line blank on a restaurant receipt. EVER.
Make certain that every line on your receipt is filled in. If you’re not leaving a tip put an X or a zero with a slash through it on the tip line and be sure to fill in the “Total” amount as well.
In addition, always keep your receipts stored until you can reconcile them when your monthly statements arrive. While reconciling card statements with your saved receipts might seem tedious, it will be well worth your time.
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