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The banks are not trying to keep ahead of the hackers. There is no attempt to add security mechanisms to these cards. The cards were copied by scanning them through the same machine used to scan them to make a purchase. This has been possible for decades. It's not like it's an arms race here, the banks just don't care.

Anyway anyone mature enough to have a bank account and be making purchases is able to understand the risks of using a debit card habitually. Not to mention the failure to improve your credit score by not showing credit card use when you could have.

Actually no one should be learning at this point in the game about skimmers being attached to ATMs, or about waiters copying cards while they carry them away. This has been public knowledge for years and is in the news every few months. I wonder sometimes how people can be so unaware of the world.

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I actually saw someone put a $1-and-change purchase on a credit card the other day. They weren't even embarrassed.

That's why I use CASH 97 percent of the time at restaurants. I love when someone in front of me on line uses a debit or credit card to purchase something for less than 5 dollars, I mean really, are you 9 years old.

i just heard from someone this past week that she had her bank debit card info stolen and during the investigation learned that skimmers are attached to the outside, usually drive-through, automatic tellers at banks in some neighborhoods.

they can't keep ahead of the hackers and those kinds of kiosks are being phased out.

beware.

ID theft ring victimized restaurant patrons

Saturday, August 29, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

An identity theft ring in which a waiter used an electronic "skimmer" to steal credit card information and tens of thousands of dollars were stolen from at least 100 unsuspecting patrons at restaurants in Jersey City and Newark has been dismantled, authorities said.

A monthlong probe into the ring led to the arrest of Joaquin Martinez, 31, of Weehawken, Anuar Prado, 35, of Elizabeth, and Julian Garcia, 27, of Newark, and effectively dismantled the operation, Hudson County Prosecutor's Office First Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory said yesterday.

The three are charged with possession of a forgery device, identity theft and conspiracy to commit identify theft, Gregory said, adding that additional arrests are expected.

Police are still trying to track down Dayron Rendon, 30, of Belleville, who contacted the Prosecutor's Office yesterday and Wednesday saying he was going to turn himself in, but apparently got cold feet, Gregory said. Authorities did not say what roles any of the four played in the scheme.

Authorities said information from 100 different credit cards has been identified and they are still sorting through evidence recovered from a home in Belleville.

The probe began when two female victims contacted investigators about fraudulent charges on their credit cards and it was found that both had recently used their cards at a Jersey City restaurant, said Gregory, who refused to name the restaurant.

Investigators quickly learned that the same waiter had accepted payment from each of the women and determined he had stolen their credit card information by swiping the cards through a "skimmer."

The small electronic device records the information on a credit card's magnetic strip. Detectives also found that the waiter had been "skimming" credit cards at a restaurant in Newark, Gregory said.

The credit card information was forwarded to a Belleville location, where another device was used to load the stolen information onto other credit cards, which were then used to make purchases throughout northern New Jersey and New York, Gregory said.

Investigators executed a search warrant at the Belleville residence on Monday and found scores of credit cards encoded with stolen account information, Gregory said.

They also found computer equipment used to download the stolen account information from the skimmer and reprogram fraudulent cards with the information, Gregory said.

Numerous retail gift cards purchased with the fraudulent cards were recovered at the residence, Gregory said.

Gregory would not disclose the identity of the waiter. The U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are assisting in the investigation, which is ongoing. Detectives expect to trace additional victims through the credit card information found at the Belleville residence.

Anyone with information on Rendon's whereabouts is asked to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Special Investigations Unit at (201) 217-5342.

http://www.1010wins.com/Prosecutor--N ... t-Data-from-Custo/5103900

Prosecutor: NJ Waiter Stole Credit Data from 100 Customers

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP/ 1010 WINS) -- Authorities in northern New Jersey say a waiter using an electronic "skimmer'' device stole credit card information from at least 100 customers of restaurants in Jersey City and Newark and passed it to an identity theft ring.

Prosecutors say the ring used the data to make thousands of dollars of fraudulent purchases.

Hudson County First Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory said Friday that three people have been arrested so far and a fourth is being sought.

Investigators say the waiter stole credit card information by swiping the cards through an electronic device that records information on a credit card's magnetic strip.

Gregory would not name the waiter or the restaurants involved and it was not known if the waiter was among those arrested.