August 6, 2009
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News: Hackers Cashing In On Georgia
Georgia continues to experience a rash of debit and credit card fraud stemming from a customer's visit to one particular restaurant in Henry County. Although the restaurant maintains an employee is not involved, it is evident there is a security breach in the restaurant's electronic debit and credit card payment system. All of the victims had one thing in common; they had dinner at the La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant. The U.S. Secret Service is assisting the local police with the investigation leading them to possible online fraud by thieves hacking into the restaurant's system to steal the customers' debit and credit card information.
The police began looking into the possibility of hackers after receiving an unusual amount of complaints from the restaurant customers. To date, there have been over 100 cases of unauthorized debit and credit card transactions amounting to thousands of dollars. Each transaction amounts to hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars. Jairo Candamil, the La Parrilla Restaurant's Manager, said the restaurant has converted its debit and credit card payment processing system to a new system. Candamil stated that their customers' security is their top priority and they are doing everything possible to prevent any further breaches. Despite the concerns about possible theft, Candamil says the customers love the La Parrilla Restaurant and continue to patronize it. Many of them are choosing to pay in cash.
Last year another rash of debit and credit card fraud occurred in connection to the Fiesta Azteca restaurant in Paulding County. Those fraudulent charges continued though December and then suddenly stopped after the restaurant converted to a hard-line payment processing system in place of the wireless internet connection. That case remains open while authorities continue to check out leads. Once again, authorities are advising all consumers to check their bank statements regularly and notify their banks immediately of any suspicious activity.