Here’s a scary thought, Visa has reported that the most likely place for you to have your credit card information stolen is at a restaurant. They have found that 40% of all credit card theft happens at restaurants. Most of this takes place when computer thieves break into the restaurant’s computer system and download the credit card information. The National Restaurant Association was surprised to hear this. They believe that this is due to the large number of people who dine out each year in comparison to the numbers in other industries.

Visa will be assessing larger fines to restaurants that incorrectly store too much data from swiped cards. Some chains have already been forced to confirm that they are storing correct data or they will be subject to fines as high as $10,000 a month.

Another major reason restaurants are such a large risk, is due to the fact that the card often is temporarily removed from possession of the card owner. Shady employees have been able to download card data for their own personal use by using hand-held card scanners.

The best way to protect yourself is not to use a credit card when dining out. If you do, be sure to check your statements regularly and immediately report any fraudulent charges to the credit card company.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Articles Concerning Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.