Will this location also include the San Marco location's identity theft problems??? I know a dozen people that have had their credit card info stolen.
This was happening from August through early November.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll pay in cash.
It happened to a group of my friends also.(credit card theft) When phone calls were placed to the Metro the owner hung up.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on December 20, 2010, 11:04:12 AM
Will this location also include the San Marco location's identity theft problems??? I know a dozen people that have had their credit card info stolen.
Make it a dozen +1. And it's still happening...
I have eaten there twice in the past 6-7 months. The first time, I paid with my AmEx chargecard and then a couple weeks afterwards I get a call from AmEx saying they had shut down my card and were sending me a new one because someone tried to swipe it at a kiosk in the UK to buy a train pass at the same time I was using the same card to buy a Starbucks in Ormond Florida. Obviously someone stole the number and made a fake/cloned card. I didn't think much of that, and figured maybe it was an online data breach or something. That AmEx charge is what I use to pay for pretty much everything, so it really could have been anywhere that the number got stolen, or so I thought.
But then the next time I went back to Metro Diner, I used my Citi american airlines credit card. The only reason I even have this card is because it waives baggage fees and because AA made a new rule that your AAdvantage miles expire if you don't have any mileage account activity in I think it's something like every 12 months. So the couple miles that you get from buying something with that credit card count as a transaction when they get deposited into your AAdvantage account. That way my 101k mileage balance won't get taken away from me. I don't fly AA anymore, they just don't have the options from JAX that US has, but I'm going to use those miles one day!! Anyway, aside from that one purpose, this card sits in a drawer and never gets used for anything, ever. I brought it along to use specifically to make one transaction as I approaching the 12 month mark on mileage expiration again.
Then I got a call about a month later from Citi saying someone was trying to buy a bunch of stuff on the internet that was outside my spending pattern and would I verify the charges before they would let them through. There were like 20 different transactions, and not a single one was mine. They flagged the card and sent me a new one.
Now THAT stuck in my memory, because this year that card had expired on its own and Citi had sent me a new card in the mail. The new card had a different expiration date, a different set of verification numbers, etc. That new card had not been used a single time, anywhere, except for the one meal at Metro Diner.
So after that, I knew exactly where it had happened. That also reminded me of what happened with my AmEx, shortly after using it to pay for a meal there. I'm not sure if someone has a card swiper on their phone or palm pilot or whatever and is stealing the numbers that way, or if their computer terminals have a worm (more common than you'd think) and are giving out the data to some hacker. But I can assure you it's DEFINITELY Metro Diner, and they have an extremely serious problem with this.
Word to the wise; NEVER use a debit card there. Debit cards do not have the same federal fraud liability protections as credit or charge accounts, and during the time it takes to sort everything out, it's your money missing from your account with a debit card, and the bank's money tied up when it's a credit card.
But yeah, this place has a serious problem with ID theft.
Metro Diner off the list except paying cash. Never had an issue with this in Avondale or Riverside, but maybe I'm just lucky!
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine who just had this happen to him at 'town in Avondale. He gave his AmEx card to the server before the dessert course to keep his friend from grabbing the check. It was out of his hands for about thirty minutes.
The next day he's looking at his charges and finds $1 charged at 'town and later that night $2500 run through Paypal on that card for some electronics company in California. A call to AmEx stopped the charge, but they said it would take a couple of days to research the party involved through Paypal.
He thinks the $1 charge was to see what the credit limit on the card was.
In most places in Europe, they come to your table with a handheld device that runs your card without it leaving your sight.
Be careful out there!
I had something similar happen to me after eating at a restaurant at the beach. I pay with my credit card and the next morning I had two charges overnight at Wal-Mart's website for about 80 bucks a piece.
I would be careful at retailers, too. They have gotten better at security, but there is a brief split second when they swipe your card where your information is vulnerable and is not protected. I have heard of people just chilling in wi-fi zones (or even creating their own traveling wi-fi) and snatching the cc info this way. But, on a one-on-one basis, I know most waiters are honest, hard workers, but many there sure are some unscrupulous waiters at restaurants all over. And I have heard of fast food employees with mini thumb cameras that snap cc info front and back while they swipe your card (I have actually heard of this happening a lot).
Unless you're going to use the info yourself and the card happens to have a lot of money on it/a huge credit amount and you have the capabilities of making a fake card for that account, one cc info or debit card is not worth that much on the black market to sell. Usually these people try to get a couple hundred card numbers and then sell them online (which is why an employee steals your cc info and a month later someone in the UK is using it).
Cash at 'town now too. Sadly, its not the places that are the issue, its the people in them, and not always the wait staff, cause someone could take a picture with a camera and its see-ya with your credit card.
Uggh Mom and Dad just took me to breakfast at Metro Diner I think they used their card :-(
Thumb Cameras - you're kidding right?
How about a USB magnetic strip reader plugged into your smartphone?
QuoteMagstripe Reader USB HID Device - 3 Track IDTech HEN3331-12U
Overview - Online stores - Details
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The minimag compact magnetic stripe reader can read 1, 2, or 3 tracks of magnetic stripe information. in addition, it has full data editing capabilities. when connected to the host computer as a keyboard wedge, the minimag is completely compatible with th
Add to Shopping List
Add to shopping list indeed.
and how about putting your backpack with a reciever at the hostess stand to steal RFID chipped cards' info as people walk through the door?
QuoteSocket CF RFID Reader Card 6E - RFID reader - contactless - CompactFlash Card - Plug-in module from Socket Mobile in Input Adapters
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Now add high frequency RFID capabilities to your mobile data collection application with Socket's CompactFlash RFID Reader Card. This product reads and writes to all ISO 15693 and many proprietary 13.56Mhz RFID tags being used or deployed for asset tracking, access control, process control, healthcare and pharmaceutical applications.
Quotehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_identity_theft
Overview
Wireless identity theft is a relatively new technique of gathering an individual's personal information from RF-enabled cards carried on a person in their access control, credit, debit, or government issued identification cards.[6] Each of these cards carry a Radio frequency identification chip which responds to certain radio frequencies. When these "tags" come into contact with radio waves, they respond with a slightly altered signal. The response can contain encoded personal identifying information, including the card holder's name, address, Social Security Number, phone number, and pertinent account or employee information.
Upon capturing (or 'harvesting') this data, the thief is then able to program their own cards to respond in an identical fashion (via 'cloning'). Many sites are dedicated to nothing but teaching people how to perform this act, as well as supplying the necessary equipment and software.[7][8]
The financial industrial complex is currently migrating from the use of magnetic stripes on debit and credit cards which technically require a swipe through a magnetic card swipe reader. These transactions take approximately 48 seconds, whereas the newer radio frequency tagged card transactions require approximately 12 seconds.[citation needed] The number of transactions per minute can be increased, and more transactions can be processed in a shorter time, therefore making for arguably shorter lines at the cashier.[9]
And ya'll thought that carbon imprints wre bad....
Now that we've covered the hardware, we collect some rather easy to get software....
QuoteEnlarge Image Intuit, Inc. New Intuit Inc. Quickbooks Credit Card Processing Kit Verify Credit Card Information
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then we spend a few bucks setting up a shell corporation, collect our data, process the cards, collect the money and fold the company, repeat, reuse, rewash.
This is why I use a credit card and never a debit card.
Quote from: Lunican on February 22, 2011, 04:03:58 PM
This is why I use a credit card and never a debit card.
This is why 90% of the time I only use my debit card at the ATM that serves my bank and pay cash everywhere.
Watch out for the bank ATM card skimmers!
http://gizmodo.com/#!5453857/atm-card-skimmers-are-getting-frighteningly-sophisticated (http://gizmodo.com/#!5453857/atm-card-skimmers-are-getting-frighteningly-sophisticated)
There was a string of ATM skimming taking place in Jacksonville not to long ago. I have a frend in the electronics industry and he was used to help law enforcement in their investigation. The skimmer was put over the regular card reading slot and a small camera was being placed above the keypad. The devices are just stuck on with a double sided tape of sorts so that they could be be put on and retrieved very quickly. I advise that whenever you use an ATM to give the area you put your card in a good shake to ensure there is nothing altered there.
Quote from: Dog Walker on February 21, 2011, 03:01:21 PM
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine who just had this happen to him at 'town in Avondale. He gave his AmEx card to the server before the dessert course to keep his friend from grabbing the check. It was out of his hands for about thirty minutes.
The next day he's looking at his charges and finds $1 charged at 'town and later that night $2500 run through Paypal on that card for some electronics company in California. A call to AmEx stopped the charge, but they said it would take a couple of days to research the party involved through Paypal.
He thinks the $1 charge was to see what the credit limit on the card was.
In most places in Europe, they come to your table with a handheld device that runs your card without it leaving your sight.
Be careful out there!
Turns out this quite probably did NOT occur at 'town and the only charge through 'town was for his excellent dinner. The PayPal activity might not be connected through the charges at 'town at all.
My apologies for passing on this story before getting all of the information straight. This is exactly the way that the internet can hurt the reputation of perfectly innocent parties.
That thumping noise you hear is me kicking myself.
:-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
I did not have much of a problem the last time that I ate at Metro Diner. Someone else paid my tab. I was more concerned, however, about how the back room is a fire hazard. All of the tables are jammed together - making it hard for the wait staff and for the customers to move around. I would hope that an emergency does not happen there.
Back to the topic, however, how could one safeguard against this kind of identity theft other than paying with cash? Is it always the server who is the one who is handling the card? Or are their multiple hands that are making contact with the card?
Cash is still king...
It's usually the server in most places. Machine skimming is starting to pick up more around here though. FTU had an article last month that talked about several stations that had been caught with skimmers in the gas pumps. I've started a habit of any time I put in my pin, I completely cover my "dialing" hand with either my wallet or a piece of paper. The cameras that capture the pins are pretty much always mounted above the keypad. The really sophisticated fake keypads some groups are putting on ATM machines don't work with gas pumps.
I wonder what is going to happen when smart phones are enabled to be used as charge cards. Bluetooth skimmers?
Two pages of posts and Rick Scott hasn't been named a suspect in the Metro Diner scheme... kinda surprised.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on February 23, 2011, 09:55:45 AM
Cash is still king...
But cash doesn't get me rewards points like my credit card does.
Quote from: Shwaz on February 23, 2011, 10:41:34 AM
Two pages of posts and Rick Scott hasn't been named a suspect in the Metro Diner scheme... kinda surprised.
He moved on to fleece an entire state, he doesn't have to worry about small theft anymore...There is that better? Lol
Quote from: Dog Walker on February 22, 2011, 05:41:20 PM
Quote from: Dog Walker on February 21, 2011, 03:01:21 PM
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine who just had this happen to him at 'town in Avondale. He gave his AmEx card to the server before the dessert course to keep his friend from grabbing the check. It was out of his hands for about thirty minutes.
The next day he's looking at his charges and finds $1 charged at 'town and later that night $2500 run through Paypal on that card for some electronics company in California. A call to AmEx stopped the charge, but they said it would take a couple of days to research the party involved through Paypal.
He thinks the $1 charge was to see what the credit limit on the card was.
In most places in Europe, they come to your table with a handheld device that runs your card without it leaving your sight.
Be careful out there!
Turns out this quite probably did NOT occur at 'town and the only charge through 'town was for his excellent dinner. The PayPal activity might not be connected through the charges at 'town at all.
My apologies for passing on this story before getting all of the information straight. This is exactly the way that the internet can hurt the reputation of perfectly innocent parties.
That thumping noise you hear is me kicking myself.
:-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
Dont kick too hard... your humility restored my confidence in 'town!
Quote from: ChriswUfGator on April 09, 2011, 11:21:35 PM
Quote from: Shwaz on February 23, 2011, 10:41:34 AM
Two pages of posts and Rick Scott hasn't been named a suspect in the Metro Diner scheme... kinda surprised.
He moved on to fleece an entire state, he doesn't have to worry about small theft anymore...There is that better? Lol
Who would have thunk it ? Our esteemed Governor fleecing all of us . scumbag
I wonder if this is what happened to my friend and some of his co-workers. So sad that people do dirty things like this.
I have become tired of the access companies can have to my account (consented, as in to pay my bills and some the ONLY way companies allow me to pay my bills). Makes me just want to have another account so monies can be pulled from that and not affect my primary account. Once when my parents were on a cruise, funds concerning the cruise were frozen in their account and it caused problems for other bills being paid out. Outside entities shouldn't have that kinda control over our accounts. Apologies for the tiny thread hijack/venting but when people's money is being stolen it ticks me off. Makes me think of other ways money is being bothered screwing up finances and causing havoc that has to be cleaned up. :/
I've been meaning for quite some time now to look into portable handheld credit / debit terminals for Orsay. They're de rigueur in Europe - any restaurant I've been to in France, when you're ready to tab out, you ask for "the machine" (as in "les machine, si's vous plait?"). The server brings over a little wireless terminal, runs your card without it leaving your site, offers it to you to input your PIN, and prints your ticket right at the table.
Generally speaking, transactions processed as debit are cheaper for the business owner (given a lower instance of fraud on a PIN based transaction vs. a signature based transaction which really doesn't verify anything), which is the real reason I'm interested in exploring the idea. Credit card processing is enormously expensive, and we all know that all costs of doing business ultimately get passed along to the consumer - even if you're getting 1% back on your purchases, or any other kind of "rewards", the cost of everything you buy is currently 2% or 3% more than it would be if plastic wasn't such a prevalent mode of payment, which is a very recent phenomenon. You're paying for those air miles or that monthly rebate, one way or another.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? Would you find it preferable to handing your card over to a server that takes it away to run it?
Yes, processing done at the table would be preferable if it's an option.
Quote from: Brian Siebenschuh on April 22, 2011, 12:30:37 AM
I've been meaning for quite some time now to look into portable handheld credit / debit terminals for Orsay. They're de rigueur in Europe - any restaurant I've been to in France, when you're ready to tab out, you ask for "the machine" (as in "les machine, si's vous plait?"). The server brings over a little wireless terminal, runs your card without it leaving your site, offers it to you to input your PIN, and prints your ticket right at the table.
Generally speaking, transactions processed as debit are cheaper for the business owner (given a lower instance of fraud on a PIN based transaction vs. a signature based transaction which really doesn't verify anything), which is the real reason I'm interested in exploring the idea. Credit card processing is enormously expensive, and we all know that all costs of doing business ultimately get passed along to the consumer - even if you're getting 1% back on your purchases, or any other kind of "rewards", the cost of everything you buy is currently 2% or 3% more than it would be if plastic wasn't such a prevalent mode of payment, which is a very recent phenomenon. You're paying for those air miles or that monthly rebate, one way or another.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? Would you find it preferable to handing your card over to a server that takes it away to run it?
QuoteI've been meaning for quite some time now to look into portable handheld credit / debit terminals for Orsay.
Do it Brian!
They use them in Austrailaia, New Zealand and South Africa. They also make it easier if you need to split the check and include a tip. We just told the server how much we were each paying.
Depending on the sophistication of whoever's interested in stealing card numbers, the wireless terminals can be a lot less safe than trusting your servers. I think the system in the US works by and large pretty well, once you report it as theft (actually in my case the bank caught it way before I even did) you get credited for all the charges. The terminals in the EU can use types of encryption we can't here, because our cards do not contain the embedded microchips that make it possible like theirs do. So you'd be wirelessly transmitting card data with standard encryption, which hasn't worked out that great for organizations like Best Buy, Target, etc., who had a lot more money to throw at that problem than restaurants do. I'd think you're still safest using a landline or ethernet connected terminal setup.
The issue in this case isn't security or encryption or anything else anyway, it's Metro Diner. I must know 3 or 4 people personally who've had their card numbers stolen there now, and it happened to me personally twice. And that doesn't even include the other people in this thread who have also had their card information stolen there. The owner is an arrogant jerk about it, hangs up the phone if you try to talk to him about what's happening. That is the part of the system that isn't working in this case, the merchant is aware of what's happening but seems perfectly fine with it. Under those circumstances, it doesn't matter what you do as far as electronic gizmos go, because if management is fine with letting someone circumvent them (or else is in on it) then it's still going to happen anyway.
Which is why I will only pay cash at Metro Diner, in the unlikely event I ever go there again.