In an incredibly easy-to-solve case of mass theft and fraud, federal authorities have nabbed six servers at local restaurants for stealing customers' credit card numbers, which were then used to buy $750,000 worth of fancy clothes and things at rich people stores. And you thought your finances were safe! (No?)
The waiter-scammer ring "victimized" customers (who all had insurance) at a few Maryland dives as well as District restaurants M&S Grill, 701 Restaurant and Clyde's of Gallery Place. The Examiner notes that these are very "high-end" restaurants. Clyde's, for example, draws such local Fat Cats as drunk hockey fans, who go to dine on the finest buffalo chicken sandwiches and chicken finger platters after barfing on the ice.
The Secret Service were the ones investigating the case, too! They have some weird, 19th-century mandate to protect the currency from counterfeiters.
Three men who allegedly bought the numbers from the servers — Joseph Artemus Bush, Aarron D. Gilbert and Erick V. Burton — used the information to create counterfeit credit cards that were used at area stores, Soto wrote. The men were caught on tape using the bogus cards to either buy items at stores like Target or gift cards at CVS that they later spent at Barney’s and Gucci in Chevy Chase.
Secret Service investigators cracked the Washington-area scheme after customers began complaining to their banks of unauthorized charges on their cards ... Patterns in the charges [led them] to the restaurants, where managers helped him trace the stolen information back to specific servers.
And all they were trying to do was stimulate the economy. Does Patriotism mean nothing to these Feds?
Jim Newell is a consumer advocate for Wonkette and IvyGate.
