Card skimming at a California Pizza Kitchen take-out window
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
9/30/08
Organization:
California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Plymouth Meeting Mall
Location:
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
Victims:
Take-out window customers
Number Affected:
"It could be hundreds,"
Types of Data:
Full magnetic strip data from credit and debit cards
Breach Description:
"An investigation is continuing into a former California Pizza Kitchen employee who reportedly admitted "skimming" hundreds of credit card accounts this summer at the restaurant's carryout window in Plymouth."
Reference URL:
Fox News - Philadelphia
The Colonial
Report Credit:
Fox News
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
If you've ordered take-out recently at the California Pizza Kitchen pay close attention to your credit card statement.
[Evan] At the California Pizza Kitchen in Plymouth Meeting Mall in July and August of this year.
police say a now former employee of the restaurant at the Plymouth Meeting Mall was allegedly part of a plot to steal card numbers
The worker, who has not yet been arrested, was fired from her job, according to the Plymouth Township Police Department.
Police haven't released her name or picture
[Evan] This will likely come after charges have been filed.
an employee working the take-out window carried a skimmer, a small device that records all the information carried on the magnetic strip of any bank or credit card.
[Evan] An example of a pretty good portable credit card reader (referred to as a "skimmer" in the cited articles) is the TA32 (pictured below). A fraudster can use the TA32 to capture the data, and use a encoder to write the data to any card with a magnetic strip (a gift card, a gas card, a prepaid telephone card, etc.). For less than $1000, a fraudster has everything he/she needs to manufacture his/her own credit cards. Scary, but true. This type of fraud happens a lot more often than people realize because it is so easy to commit.
when the customer wasn't looking, she would swipe the card
"all types of credit cards and debit cards" belonging to customers who used the eatery's take-out window
Credit card accounts included American Express, Discover, Visa and MasterCard.
"It could be hundreds," said Det. Jeffery McGee of the Plymouth Meeting police department, commenting on the number of potential victims.
After receiving complaints from American Express, police began investigating the compromised accounts.
They do have another person already behind bars who is arrested for using fraudulent credit cards.
the scheme included making fake ID cards to go along with the stolen credit card numbers.
The investigation determined the customer accounts were reportedly transferred to counterfeit credit cards and used to make purchases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
someone used one at the Nordstrom in King of Prussia
the former employee stole people's credit info from late July of this year through the end of August.
calls are still flooding the police department.
The company said that, "customer confidentiality is integral and the restaurant is fully co-operating with the investigation."
Skimming at restaurants or bars is believed to be easier given that the card is often out of a customer's view temporarily, according to police.
Police are asking restaurant customers who used the carryout between late July and the end of August, who have become victims of identity theft to call Detective Jeffrey McGee at or at .
Commentary:
I don't figure that it will be very long before the former employee is charged. Capturing the information, writing it to cards, and using the cards all within a month or two is proof that these fraudsters are the brightest.
How do we address the bigger issue? The bigger issue being how easy it is to commit this type of fraud. Someone with more intelligence could probably get away with it.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:9/30/08
Organization:
California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Plymouth Meeting Mall
Location:
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
Victims:
Take-out window customers
Number Affected:
"It could be hundreds,"
Types of Data:
Full magnetic strip data from credit and debit cards
Breach Description:
"An investigation is continuing into a former California Pizza Kitchen employee who reportedly admitted "skimming" hundreds of credit card accounts this summer at the restaurant's carryout window in Plymouth."
Reference URL:
Fox News - Philadelphia
The Colonial
Report Credit:
Fox News
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
If you've ordered take-out recently at the California Pizza Kitchen pay close attention to your credit card statement.
[Evan] At the California Pizza Kitchen in Plymouth Meeting Mall in July and August of this year.
police say a now former employee of the restaurant at the Plymouth Meeting Mall was allegedly part of a plot to steal card numbers
The worker, who has not yet been arrested, was fired from her job, according to the Plymouth Township Police Department.
Police haven't released her name or picture
[Evan] This will likely come after charges have been filed.
an employee working the take-out window carried a skimmer, a small device that records all the information carried on the magnetic strip of any bank or credit card.
[Evan] An example of a pretty good portable credit card reader (referred to as a "skimmer" in the cited articles) is the TA32 (pictured below). A fraudster can use the TA32 to capture the data, and use a encoder to write the data to any card with a magnetic strip (a gift card, a gas card, a prepaid telephone card, etc.). For less than $1000, a fraudster has everything he/she needs to manufacture his/her own credit cards. Scary, but true. This type of fraud happens a lot more often than people realize because it is so easy to commit.
when the customer wasn't looking, she would swipe the card
"all types of credit cards and debit cards" belonging to customers who used the eatery's take-out window
Credit card accounts included American Express, Discover, Visa and MasterCard.
"It could be hundreds," said Det. Jeffery McGee of the Plymouth Meeting police department, commenting on the number of potential victims.
After receiving complaints from American Express, police began investigating the compromised accounts.
They do have another person already behind bars who is arrested for using fraudulent credit cards.
the scheme included making fake ID cards to go along with the stolen credit card numbers.
The investigation determined the customer accounts were reportedly transferred to counterfeit credit cards and used to make purchases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
someone used one at the Nordstrom in King of Prussia
the former employee stole people's credit info from late July of this year through the end of August.
calls are still flooding the police department.
The company said that, "customer confidentiality is integral and the restaurant is fully co-operating with the investigation."
Skimming at restaurants or bars is believed to be easier given that the card is often out of a customer's view temporarily, according to police.
Police are asking restaurant customers who used the carryout between late July and the end of August, who have become victims of identity theft to call Detective Jeffrey McGee at or at .
Commentary:
I don't figure that it will be very long before the former employee is charged. Capturing the information, writing it to cards, and using the cards all within a month or two is proof that these fraudsters are the brightest.
How do we address the bigger issue? The bigger issue being how easy it is to commit this type of fraud. Someone with more intelligence could probably get away with it.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posts Atom 1.0
I am seeing more cases of credit card skimming in the news than ever before. To see a video demonstration of a credit card skimmer see http://www.insideidtheft.info/personalsecurity.aspx
Thanks Evan for your hard work in finding all these important stories.
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