Waiter Charged With Cloning Restaurant Customer Credit Cards

Many consumers are leary of e-commerce and online purchasing. They are afraid of who might intercept or hack their credit card numbers and other private information once they enter it and submit it across the World Wide Web.

Few people think twice though about what happens to their credit card and other personal information when they order the latest infomercial gadget over the phone or hand their credit card to the waiter at the restaurant.

Two men in Philadelphia have proven that giving your card to a waiter may be quite insecure as well. Using a pager-sized handheld device called a "skimmer" they were able to scan the magnetic strip of customers cards and create duplicate cards using equipment in their homes. Thirteen victims and $60,000 in purchases later they have been caught.