Credit card scam

[Monoriu]

Scam works like this.  You go to a restaurant, and pay by credit card.  When you sign the slip, there is actually another slip of someone else's bill underneath yours.  You sign it, and your signature appears on both slips.  You then have to pay the bills of two tables.

How do the restaurant staff benefit from this?  A lot of people in Asia pay cash for their restaurant bills.  Say, Table A pays cash, and Table B pays by credit card.  The waiter then uses Table B's card to pay for the bills of both tables.  Table A's cash enters his own pocket. 

This scam seems to originate from Bangkok. 

[sbr]

If you fall for this one you should have to buy someone else dinner. Seriously how could yuo now realize there is another card receipt under the one you are signing?

[Tonitrus]

For the vast majority of US restaurants, it would be very easy to tell.

[Monoriu]

For the vast majority of US restaurants, it would be very easy to tell.

How?

[Syt]

Is it considered impolite or do you lose face if you look at what bills you sign in China?

[Monoriu]

Is it considered impolite or do you lose face if you look at what bills you sign in China?

No.  Ok, consider the paper used for credit card receipts.  If the waiter places your bill on top, and someone else's bill directly underneath it.  You check the bill on top, then sign the slip.  Your one signature will appear on two sets of receipts. 

[Habbaku]

At every restaurant I've been to, this would be laughably easy to detect.

[Syt]

Is it considered impolite or do you lose face if you look at what bills you sign in China?

No.  Ok, consider the paper used for credit card receipts.  If the waiter places your bill on top, and someone else's bill directly underneath it.  You check the bill on top, then sign the slip.  Your one signature will appear on two sets of receipts.

I don't know, if I get a second piece of paper under the one I'm supposed to sign I feel inclined to look at that, too (usually a cursory glance if they require me to sign twice or some such).

[dps]

Any place I've ever used plastic, you sign the top copy and leave it for the restaurant.  The other copies are yours.  So they could put a dozen other tables' bills in there and it wouldn't matter, 'cause they'd only have their copy of your bill anyway.  I gotta agree with the poster who said if you fall for this, you deserve to pay for the other table's food as well as your own.

[Tonitrus]

For the vast majority of US restaurants, it would be very easy to tell.

How?

Every receipt I have ever gotten works like this....

You get "the check", one flimsy piece of paper, then hand it back a/ credit card.

Then you get back two more flimsy slips, the restaurant copy and the guest copy.  You fill out the tip and total on the first and sign, and keep the second( and often, the original).  An extra receipt for someone else would be very conspicuous.

[garbon]

I don't get how this happens.  Here, the signature is more of a formality with the actual swiping of the credit card being more important.  If you put another bill underneath...it wouldn't have the credit card information.

Also, only really at small mom and pop shops have I seen carbon copy receipts recently.  Usually, the customer company is printed completely separate from the merchant copy.  That's why I often leave the customer copy as that's often the one that I accidentally sign.

[Martinus]

I don't get how this happens.  Here, the signature is more of a formality with the actual swiping of the credit card being more important.  If you put another bill underneath...it wouldn't have the credit card information.

Also, only really at small mom and pop shops have I seen carbon copy receipts recently.  Usually, the customer company is printed completely separate from the merchant copy.  That's why I often leave the customer copy as that's often the one that I accidentally sign.

Yeah, it's the same here. I have only seen the carbon copy receipts in some taxis. Besides, Europe is pretty much going the direction of a chip card/PIN code identification these days, so soon we won't have credit cards with signature slips anymore.

[DisturbedPervert]

Scam works like this.  You go to a restaurant, and pay by credit card.  When you sign the slip, there is actually another slip of someone else's bill underneath yours.  You sign it, and your signature appears on both slips.  You then have to pay the bills of two tables.

How do the restaurant staff benefit from this?  A lot of people in Asia pay cash for their restaurant bills.  Say, Table A pays cash, and Table B pays by credit card.  The waiter then uses Table B's card to pay for the bills of both tables.  Table A's cash enters his own pocket.

This scam seems to originate from Bangkok.

Never had that happen, and I've payed for restaurants hundreds of time with credit. 

Although, you seem like the type people try to scam.   

[DisturbedPervert]

The only thing I've ever heard you need to watch out for in restaurants in Asia, is people adding things you didn't buy to the bill.  Like an extra drink or something you never ordered. Which can be easily noticed, but some people don't check.  This story doesn't sound credible at all.

[Brazen]

Get chip and PIN, you bunch of backward, Luddite countries. That goes especially for you Yanks. Most overseas fraud on UK credit cards is carried out in the US.