Ex-Waiter Accused Of Skimming Credit Cards

[Christine Fulgham <christine () opensecurityfoundation org>]

http://cbs4.com/local/Cristobal.Chavez.credit.2.1942967.html

A former waiter at a Southwest Ranches restaurant is accused of stealing the
credit card numbers of more than two dozen customers.

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, Cristobal Chavez, 29, stole the
credit card numbers by copying them with a device called a skimmer while
working at the Romeus Cuban Restaurant. Investigators believe Chavez copied
the numbers over a several month span.

"We believe he was selling the numbers," Broward Sheriff's Sgt. Jay Leiner
told CBS 4's Carey Codd.

Sgt. Leiner believes Chavez sold the credit card numbers to a group of
identity thieves operating outside the state of Florida. The restaurant
victims lost more than $20-thousand dollars but the credit card companies
paid them back. Regardless, Sgt. Leiner said this crime -- called skimming
-- is on the rise.

"We noticed as the economy starts to go down, our fraud picks up in
general," he said. "And skimming, we see more of it go up because let's face
it -- it's real easy to do."

The skimmer device fits right in the palm of a hand and the swipe is done in
seconds, copying the credit card number.

Chavez is charged with 28 counts of identity theft, one count of grand theft
and two counts of using a scanning device to defraud. We tried to speak to
Chavez at his Hialeah apartment about the charges. He was home but did not
want to speak with us.

[...]

_______________________________________________
Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org)
Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/

Take CREDANT Technologies short survey on cloud usage and security.
Take the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TXDR7WT
Respond by October 12, 2010.
Enter to win a $500(US) Amazon Gift Card.