Did you activate it online, Hop?

Hamburger Hamlet waitress accused of skimming

LOS ANGELES (May 22, 2007) A former server at a Hamburger Hamlet unit in West Los Angeles has been charged with nine counts of identity theft and five counts of grand theft for stealing the credit card numbers of up to 40 restaurant customers last year.

April DuBoise, who is scheduled for arraignment June 25, faces up to 12 years in jail and/or $12,000 in fines, according to officials at the Los Angeles city attorney's office.

DuBoise was allegedly approached by a man who offered her $10 for every credit/debit card number she stole using a skimming devise called a "wedge." Up to $16,266 in unauthorized charges reported by six customers were linked to the case, and DuBoise was identified as the server for each.

Officials from Hamburger Hamlet parent Hamlet Restaurant Group reportedly said the server was identified in part because fellow staff members noticed that she would visit the restroom after picking up a customer's card - presumably to swipe the card with the hand-held wedge.

Investigators believe DuBoise was only paid about $200 by the unidentified man who recruited her. The man remains at large.

many attorneys I know that deal with these issues will tell you straight out to cancel and destroy your debit cards as generally the worst option when it comes to paying for items.

Aethien: Dude. I hate that too. Its usually after I've spent 20 min typing the perfect response...then I'm so frustrated I either don't reply at all or just one or two lines.
(I wonder how many great works of literature have been accidentally deleted and never recreated?)

Anyway, yes, my bank's monitoring service called to ask me about 5 transactions. 4 of them I verified as mine and the 5th was the imposter. They cut the card off immediately while I was on the phone with them and I ordered a new one.

I can't believe people are stealing stuff like that...I really hope they catch whoever did this. I'm guessing its either someone online or someone local who is selling the numbers to someone else.

So you had this happen to you to? That really sucks. Thanks for the tips and the advice. We will be monitoring our account very carefully...which my husband already does, but even more so now. Thanks.

Colphax:

I'll trade you your minor annoyance of walking into the store to complete the purchase for my months of paperwork to clear my credit and ensure the five fraudulent accounts the ID thief opened are closed and off of my credit report.

Does this include debit cards that can be used as credit cards? My debit card has a Visa logo, so I can use it as a credit card (but it still comes straight out of my account). When I buy gas, for instance, I always choose the "credit" option, if I can, so I don't have to put in my PIN. That being said, if they have the number of the card, they can use it as a credit card, too, but at least they can't directly access the account and withdraw money.

You forgot the huge annoyance of them waking him up by calling him while he is trying to sleep....poor Colphax never gets any sleep.

Yes, it does. It has to do with the protections that are required to be offered to credit card holders vs. debit card holders with regard to liability for fraudulent charges.