Latest credit card scam

[Monoriu]

Scam is really simple.  Scammer buys a waiter/waitress uniform, and goes to a really big and busy restaurant that is extremely short-staffed during peak hours.  As the restaurant is very busy, a lot of customers do not wait to see the bill before they take out their credit cards.  Customers literally grab any waiter they can see and stuff their credit cards into their hands.  Scammer takes credit card, leaves the restaurant, takes off the uniform and immediately goes shopping with it.  It takes a while for the customer and the restaurant to figure out what's going on. 

[Darth Wagtaros]

How long can it take someone to realize their credit card isn't coming back?  A few minutes? 

[sbr]

Anyone that falls for that does that deserves to buy a felon an HDTV. 

[Monoriu]

How long can it take someone to realize their credit card isn't coming back?  A few minutes?

Remember, we're talking about an extremely busy restaurant, one in which there could be one waiter for 10-20 tables.  It can take 5-10 minutes for you to get hold of any waiter.  Then you need to ask him to find out why the credit card isn't coming back.  The waiter first needs to serve food at 3 tables, take orders at 2 more, give more chopsticks to another, before he has time to talk to his cashier to find out what's going on.  When the cashier tells him she has never seen the card, the waiter has to talk to his manager. The manager is himself very busy serving food.  And when he has time to listen to the waiters' story, he has to verify it by talking to the customer and cashier and other staff.  Add all this time up, it may be up to half an hour before the customer realizes that his credit card has been stolen.  It takes like 10 minutes for a thief to buy jewelry and max out the card. 

[Monoriu]

Anyone that falls for that does that deserves to buy a felon an HDTV. 

Why?  I can easily see myself falling for that.  You see a uniformed waiter, you give him your credit card to settle the bill.  It is a perfectly natural thing to do. 

[sbr]

Anyone who eats at a restaurant where one server is working 10-20 tables is at fault as well, IMO.

[Monoriu]

Anyone who eats at a restaurant where one server is working 10-20 tables is at fault as well, IMO.

That's the norm here.  In the majority of Chinese restaurants, waiters do not serve designated tables.  All waiters roam the whole place and serve whoever raises their hand.  I often meet 5-6 different waiters in a single meal.  Staff turnover is also extremely high, so I see new faces all the time even if I go to the same place. 

[sbr]

I didn't see your response before I made my last one Mono.

I am curious to see responses from other people who live in large cities.  I worked in the restaurant business for most of my teens and 20's; I also try to avoid any restaurant/bar that could ever be as busy as you are talking about.

I would NEVER EVER give my card to anyone who didn't actually give me my food unless they gave me an actual bill, which I would read before I gave them my card.  If I somehow ended up at a place where one server was waiting on 10-20 tables at lunchtime and I had to leave 10 minutes ago I suppose it could be possible, but still unlikely.

I think we are at a cultural/lifestyle divide here.

[MadImmortalMan]

I didn't see your response before I made my last one Mono.

I am curious to see responses from other people who live in large cities.  I worked in the restaurant business for most of my teens and 20's; I also try to avoid any restaurant/bar that could ever be as busy as you are talking about.

I would NEVER EVER give my card to anyone who didn't actually give me my food unless they gave me an actual bill, which I would read before I gave them my card.  If I somehow ended up at a place where one server was waiting on 10-20 tables at lunchtime and I had to leave 10 minutes ago I suppose it could be possible, but still unlikely.

I think we are at a cultural/lifestyle divide here.

Ditto this. It's extremely unusual to have a table "belong" to more than one waiter where I live. Not only do they not share tables, but they protect the ones they have. Especially if they suspect or know the customer will tip well. Some of the places I go somewhat regularly, the waitresses know me, actually. Ok, I have to admit more bartenders know me than waitresses, but hey. 

[Strix]

How is this a scam? It sounds more like outright theft.

[sbr]

I didn't see your response before I made my last one Mono.

I am curious to see responses from other people who live in large cities.  I worked in the restaurant business for most of my teens and 20's; I also try to avoid any restaurant/bar that could ever be as busy as you are talking about.

I would NEVER EVER give my card to anyone who didn't actually give me my food unless they gave me an actual bill, which I would read before I gave them my card.  If I somehow ended up at a place where one server was waiting on 10-20 tables at lunchtime and I had to leave 10 minutes ago I suppose it could be possible, but still unlikely.

I think we are at a cultural/lifestyle divide here.

Ditto this. It's extremely unusual to have a table "belong" to more than one waiter where I live. Not only do they not share tables, but they protect the ones they have. Especially if they suspect or know the customer will tip well. Some of the places I go somewhat regularly, the waitresses know me, actually. Ok, I have to admit more bartenders know me than waitresses, but hey. 

Hell yeah, things can get ugly in the kitchen if someone tries to "move on" on one of my tables, especially if I knew they were a good tipper.

I assume that HK/China is not a "tipping" country.

Not that that would matter to Mono.

[Monoriu]

I didn't see your response before I made my last one Mono.

I am curious to see responses from other people who live in large cities.  I worked in the restaurant business for most of my teens and 20's; I also try to avoid any restaurant/bar that could ever be as busy as you are talking about.

I would NEVER EVER give my card to anyone who didn't actually give me my food unless they gave me an actual bill, which I would read before I gave them my card.  If I somehow ended up at a place where one server was waiting on 10-20 tables at lunchtime and I had to leave 10 minutes ago I suppose it could be possible, but still unlikely.

I think we are at a cultural/lifestyle divide here.

90% of the time, I'll see the bill before I give my credit card.  On average, in every 10 bills, I spot mistakes in 1-2 of them. Whenever a restaurant makes a billing mistake, I can be 100% certain that the amount will be inflated.   

But sometimes I need to change tactic.  Sometimes, the restaurant is so busy that the waiting staff are literally running around. AND I absolutely need to leave within 5 minutes to get back to the office in time.  AND I only ordered 1 item, so the chance of them screwing up my bill is tiny.  So I give them the credit card before I see the bill to save time, otherwise they need to get back to me twice. 

Unless you're talking about high end ones, service is not emphasized in Chinese restaurants.  They focus on low price, good food, and high table turnovers.  The low price part is partly achieved by cutting the number of waiting staff to the minimum. 

[Monoriu]

I didn't see your response before I made my last one Mono.

I am curious to see responses from other people who live in large cities.  I worked in the restaurant business for most of my teens and 20's; I also try to avoid any restaurant/bar that could ever be as busy as you are talking about.

I would NEVER EVER give my card to anyone who didn't actually give me my food unless they gave me an actual bill, which I would read before I gave them my card.  If I somehow ended up at a place where one server was waiting on 10-20 tables at lunchtime and I had to leave 10 minutes ago I suppose it could be possible, but still unlikely.

I think we are at a cultural/lifestyle divide here.

Ditto this. It's extremely unusual to have a table "belong" to more than one waiter where I live. Not only do they not share tables, but they protect the ones they have. Especially if they suspect or know the customer will tip well. Some of the places I go somewhat regularly, the waitresses know me, actually. Ok, I have to admit more bartenders know me than waitresses, but hey. 

There is no tipping culture in HK/China.  In HK, every restaurant states in the menu that they'll add 10% to the bill for service.  All waiting staff work for hourly wages or monthly salaries. 

[DisturbedPervert]

Sounds like an urban legend, not something I would worry about even if one dude pulled it off

[Monoriu]

Sounds like an urban legend, not something I would worry about even if one dude pulled it off

HK police just confirmed the cases.