More than two dozen current and former waiters and their associates from some of the New York's top steakhouses have been arrested and accused of stealing credit card numbers from customers.
Several suspects are from top city restaurants like Smith and Wollensky, Capital Grille and Wolfgang Steak, and Morton’s in Stamford and the Bicycle Club in New Jersey, said an MSNBC report. The alleged scam targeted customers who often paid with American Express Black cards and other high-limit credit cards, according to the report.
Some restaurant workers used handheld scanners to copy the credit card information as they walked away to process the bill, according to the report. Later, that information would be sent to leaders of the alleged fraud ring, who would forge new credit cards with the stolen information and test them out on taxis.
If the cards worked, the suspects would go on major shopping sprees, buying up expensive goods like Chanel goods and Jimmy Choo shoes. The thieves would then re-sell the luxury brand items for cash.
Profits totaled at least $1 million, the report said.