Card scam affects thousands of B.R. residents

Area banks are notifying thousands of customers they are canceling and reissuing credit and debit cards to head off a criminal ring that has been stealing numbers at restaurants in Louisiana and Mississippi, U.S. Attorney David Dugas says. At this time, the Secret Service does not believe the ring is connected to the recent Boston case in which more than 40 million credit cards numbers were stolen and sold. “We’ve had a number of restaurants in Louisiana whose point-of-sales systems have been compromised by external hackers,” Dugas says.

Of the 13 restaurants compromised in Louisiana and Mississippi, Dugas says eight of them are in the Baton Rouge area. He named Roman’s Café on Government Street and Sammy’s Grill in Zachary, but declined to name the others because the investigation is ongoing. The Secret Service also is alerting area retailers to ensure their point-of-sales systems are compliant for keeping out hackers.

Dugas estimates tens of thousands of card numbers in Louisiana have been stolen, but most of the unauthorized usage has so far occurred with credit cards. Several banks have reported losses. He says some local card numbers have been reported used as far as away as France. Dugas advised cardholders to take precautions to protect credit cards and avoid letting anyone see entering personal-identity numbers at ATM machines. If any unusual activity is observed on credit and debit card statements, report it immediately to the card company or bank. He also they are developing training for retailers to help them improve security, and brought in VISA security to assist the investigation and improve security.—Anna Thibodeaux

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/2008/aug/08/597/