I read this story awhile back about several women in Houston who accused a waitress of stealing their credit card information. The women claimed that after having lunch at Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant in Woodlands, TX on December 7 and paying with their credit cards, they allege that the waitress in question stole their credit card information by “skimming” the magnetic strips on their cards and then using the information to produce fake credit cards. Although the women couldn’t be certain it was the waitress that actually committed the crime, the bank did confirm that card skimming was, in fact, the method used by the criminal.
Whoever actually did steal the information went on a bit of a spending spree with their credit card information. Apparently, this individual went to Best Buy and made $1,000 in purchases, buying a 42 inch LCD television, a computer desk, and several video games. The person then tried to use one of the cards a few hours later at a Wal-Mart for purchases amounting to approximately $1,400. Although the fake card with the stolen information was declined, the same card was used successfully later the same day at a lingerie boutique.
The women believe the waitress is the thief because she acted nervous and was gone for a very long time with their cards. It seems the waitress claimed that she got the tickets messed up and that was why it took her so long to complete the transaction. As a result of the theft, the women said they had no way of finishing their holiday shopping because the charges that were made on their cards completely fouled up their ability to use their credit cards again during the holidays.
The lesson to be learned from this incident and consequently one of the best tips that I could give you to help protect your card from the threat of getting skimmed is that it’s best to never allow your credit card out of your sight. It’s accepted practice in restaurants for waiters or waitresses to take their customers credit cards out of sight to the register only then to return with the receipts for their customers to sign. This is typically where it happens.
You should avoid letting your credit card out of your sight at ANY TIME and insist on physically conducting the transaction yourself at the register.
If you have reason to suspect that someone did something less than honest with your card, don’t be afraid to speak up immediately. These women said that while they were suspicious of what the waitress had been doing, they did not act on their suspicion immediately. They didn’t put all the pieces together and act on it until after the damage had already been done. If they’d have confronted the waitress sooner or perhaps contacted their card issuers immediately with their suspicions, the whole mess could have been avoided entirely.
I know it seems awkward to confront someone with allegations of stealing your credit card information but it’s a much better alternative to deal with some awkwardness now rather than deal with the nightmare of credit card fraud after it’s actually happened.
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