Top New York City restaurants the center of an identity theft ring

Restaurant employees of some of New York City area's most prestigious steakhouses were arrested for alleged involvement in an identity theft scheme, NBC New York reports. According to authorities, the accused waiters copied the credit card information of clients using American Express Black cards, passing the information to accomplices who created new cards with the details and tested them on city taxis, the source reported. Cards that worked successfully were later used to purchase expensive items from retailers and resold for monetary gain, and the source adds that the thieves profited more than $1 million. Employees involved in the scheme worked at expensive and prestigious restaurants such as Capital Grille, Wolfgang Steak, Morton's, Bicycle Club and Smith and Wollenksy. A statement from a manger at Smith's reveals a manager claiming the restaurant was uninformed of any allegations posed at his employees. Businesses suffer yearly from fraudulent credit card use and consumers that check account statements regularly for fallacies can warn their banks before a significant amount of financial loss incurs. In addition, some banks contact clients if a suspicious or out-of-ordinary transaction is made.