Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Capitol Hill Breach Update shows that over 1,000 cards compromised from overseas hacker

We reported earlier about a rash of credit card fraud centered in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. Come to find out, the breach originally only affecting 100 or so people may end up affecting over 1,000 credit and debit card accounts. It has been discovered that the breach happened at the Broadway Grill restaurant, from here the overseas hacker was able to leapfrog from the restaurant's access to a critical server in the transaction process where account informaiton was available. From here the hacker had access to hundreds of other cards.

With Alpine Payment Systems Compliance assistance program, we ensure that customers are meeting all requirements of PCI data security to eliminate the risk of breaches such as this. With the Alpine Payment Systems Compliance Assistance program covering the back of house and the Dine Fraud Free Program eliminating the risk of skimming by not letting customers cards leave their hands, restaurant owners can rest assured that these sort of crimes will not happen to their establishment.

To find out more check out our website: Alpine Payment Systems


To read more on this story- [Click Here]

Monday, November 29, 2010

Last year, “skimming fraud” cost the restaurant industry more than $200 million and the trend is rising - rapidly!

Credit card skimming in the restaurant industry is becoming more exposed as high-dollar theft cases are being made against restaurant workers. Recently in the Minneapolis – St. Paul area, seven employees were charged with stealing customer credit card information from those they served in the restaurant.

When handling customer credit cards the workers also swiped the card through a portable electronic device commonly known as a “skimmer.” The skimmer captured the customer information contained on the magnetic stripe on the back of the card. The information can then be sold or transferred to organized rings that produce counterfeit cards and rack up fraudulent charges.

In this case, the group allegedly used the customers’ stolen information to fraudulently purchase at least $150,000 in goods and services in just five months. Last year, “skimming fraud” cost the restaurant industry more than $200 million and the trend is rising - rapidly!

It presents a very real problem for the restaurant owner and retailer. Trusted employees perpetrate this crime against their customers. The customer does not know their credit card information has been compromised until they get their monthly credit card statement. By the time credit card companies and the retailers and restaurants are notified that there may be a problem, large amounts of fraudulent purchases have been made. As in most cases, many customers’ cards have been compromised in one location and the crime can easily amount to six figures, as outlined in this one.

The outrage from customers that have had their identities stolen does not bode well for the manager or the owner of the business who failed to protect them from the crimes committed by their employee(s) and fail to appropriately respond after it happens. The brand image can be damaged, sometimes irrevocably.

Dine Fraud Free is the only true solution to this problem. Restaurant owners and managers can spend hours and unnecessary expenses training staff, managing staff, and properly screening employees. This, or simply implement our program and start eliminating the risk today. With our Dine Fraud Free program, the customers card never leaves their sight. The transaction happens at the table. One major benefit (among numerous others such as faster table turn times) of Dine Fraud Free is the built in PIN pad on the terminal allowing the restaurants the opportunity to obtain a PIN debit transaction. With Dine Fraud Free's PIN debit program merchants pay 0% + $.49 cent transaction fee for all PIN debit transactions. The average merchant pays anywhere from 2-4% to process credit cards in their business. This means, for a $50.00 table, the restaurant pays out $1.00-$2.00, but, with our PIN debit program the restaurant would pay 0% plus a $.49 cent transaction fee. A savings of $.51 cents to $1.51.

Contact us today to find out more about Dine Fraud Free and see how the program can help you save on processing costs. (877)217-0707

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

"It's almost like being pick-pocketed, but you still have your wallet,"

The waitress at a River Oaks restaurant approached her customers with a secret in her pocket, took their credit card and disappeared for just a minute.

She rang up the meal, swiped the card through the restaurant's computer and returned with the receipt.

Sometime during that everyday transaction, prosecutors say, she used a small battery-powered card scanner to surreptitiously scan the unwitting customer's card.

Able to fit in an identity thief's palm or masquerade as a pen in a shirt pocket, the tiny "skimmer" is emerging as the newest threat to bank accounts.

"It's almost like being pick-pocketed, but you still have your wallet," said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Ed McClees. "It's something that can be done with sleight of hand, without the person even knowing it has been done."

The tiny digital devices can collect and hold information from hundreds of cards then can be easily downloaded and transferred worldwide over Internet black markets.

With the holidays approaching, authorities are warning consumers to stay vigilant by regularly checking their accounts online, keeping receipts from where they shop and watching who handles their card.

Possession not a crime

Authorities estimate that dozens of store clerks and servers are arrested every year in Houston. Authorities are reluctant to quantify how often skimming happens, however, because one waiter at one restaurant can skim hundreds of numbers. There also are cases of identity theft that may have involved skimmers but cannot be traced or were not reported, investigators said.

"What we catch is a fraction of what happens," McClees said.

Possessing a skimmer is not a crime, but having one with stolen numbers is, he said. Attorneys and other legitimate small business owners may use skimmers every day.

If used illegally, the amount of information in the memory determines the degree of the charge, ranging from misdemeanors to first-degree felonies, which can carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. The River Oaks waitress is awaiting trial on state jail felony charges, whichcarries a maximum of two years behind bars.

Secret Service special agent Marvin Wright said consumers generally are victimized 24 to 48 hours after the number is "compromised."

"That information can then be encoded on a lost, stolen or counterfeit credit card and used anywhere in the world," Wright said.

In addition to skimmers in the hands of would-be conspirators, they also can be placed on ATMs and gas stations to capture information during a legitimate transaction. The skimmer is set up as a small hood on the real reader so the card is seen by both. A hidden camera records the PIN entry so a fraudulent card can be used at any ATM.

Identity thieves enlist friends, neighbors and other contacts to get more numbers, said John Brewer, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's identity theft section.

Sting operation

In July, four women who ate together at a Houston chain restaurant all discovered fraudulent charges on their bank accounts. When they alerted police, they recalled that their waitress took a long time with their cards.

When police questioned her, the woman cooperated and said she was approached and given a gift card to skim cards at her jobs. She also worked as a cashier at a big box retailer.

Police set up a sting days later in which the woman asked for another skimmer, scanned five cards that had been set up with accounts for fraud investigations and returned it to the identity thief who lived in a Houston motel.

Prosecutors arrested the man for debit card abuse and forgery, accusing him of using the data to create credit cards to buy $100 gift cards.

Brian Rogers. "Beware of 'skimmers': Gadgets raid bank accounts." Chron Houston & Texas News. November, 22 2010, 12:46am. .

Monday, November 22, 2010

Teenager who masterminded a $19million bank fraud on an internet crime forum is facing years behind bars

Nick Webber, the son of former Guernsey politician Tony Webber, ran a website which sold stolen credit card details and offered tutorials in a range of scams. Read more at the link below.

[READ MORE]

Friday, November 19, 2010

Top ten worst credit schemes

Below is a story of the top 10 credit card fraud cases. Very informative and really makes you think, if it is this easy, what are merchants doing to avoid these types of crimes from happening to you the customer for the future?

[TOP 10]

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Man Hacks into the Federal Reserve

Does your business meet all the requirements for PCI DSS security? Below is an article that should not be overlooked. The question to ask yourself after reading: if someone can hack their way into the Federal Reserve what keeps someone from hacking into your Point of Sale equipment?

[FEDERAL RESERVE HACKED]

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The many sides of skimming

For those of you just starting to follow us. Our objective is to eliminate the risk of credit card skimming and fraud in the hospitality sector. We are doing this by eliminating the card from leaving the customers sight while at the same time offering a compliance assistance program for our customers. Below is a link of different types of skimming to be aware of.

[READ MORE]

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

5 things to know about ATM skimming

Check out the video below to see more on the rising crime of ATM skimming.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Top 4 Skimming Threats

Knowing is half the battle. Check out the link below to read about the top 4 skimming threats US businesses are falling victim to. Think about these when using your credit card.

[READ MORE]

Friday, November 12, 2010

Hear about fraud from the victims

The recent credit card fraud spree on Capitol Hill in Seattle has the victims creating a facebook page to discuss what happened to them.

[Ream More]

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Fraud season is around the corner

Each year, during the five weeks between Black Friday and the end of the year also known as fraud season, Americans lose $1.1 billion - or $109,000 every minute

[READ MORE ON HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF]

Restaurants will have a new set of security standards to adhere to come January 1st 2010.

Most merchants look over these requirements but find that financially they are better off taking the risk. What they don't understand is that data theft can have severe repercussions including financial losses, hefty fines, and reputation damage. Let us help, call today (877)217-0707.

[READ MORE]

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

ATM Skimmers on the rise.

Check out the new report that ABC did on ATM skimming.

[CLICK HERE]

Monday, November 8, 2010

Update on the Capitol Hill Fraud Scheme

They determined that it was by some sort of software or physical device being used to capture the credit and debit card information. Read more below..

[READ MORE]

Friday, November 5, 2010

Three arrested in connection with credit card fraud at a Palm Desert Target location.

Going into the holiday season, make sure you are watching where your credit card goes when you hand it over to anyone. Below is a news report of employees at Target in Palm Desert using an electronic device (aka skimmer) to steal credit card information from unsuspecting customers.


[READ MORE]

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Restaurants need to adhere to all PCI requirements in order to ensure the protection of sensitive consumer information

This is what the POS system provider to the Capitol Hill Seattle restaurant is saying now that they are the point of interest in the recent credit card fraud spree.

[READ MORE]

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Payment card crimes increased from 100,000 affected cards in 2007 to 230,000 in 2009

Below is a story about a large compromise of customers credit and debit cards. Even their PIN numbers were compromised. With our daily posts on credit and debit card fraud, how has your debit card behavior changed, if at all?

[Click Here]

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

On average ID thieves rake in $30,000 per skimming incident.

Skimming Defined: In general skimming occurs when ID thieves secretly install special equipment in credit card readers either at the ATM, gas pump machine or any other card swiping device to capture the personal information on your card each time you swipe.

Monday, November 1, 2010

More come forward with the recent spree of credit/debit fraud in Seattle WA.

More people are coming forward with the recent fraud happening to credit and debit card in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. Check out the story below to find out more.