Crooks who engage in identity theft and credit card fraud will find thin pickings at restaurants with the new CATS encrypted card reader developed by Bellatrix Systems of Bend. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/diners-can-swipe-own-credit-cards We make things [for markets] that don't exist before we create them, explains Bill Raven, senior vice president, sales & marketing for Bellatrix Systems, Inc., a Bend-based privately held company that creates high tech electronic control units, service indicators, card readers and semi-automatic vending units. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/bellatrix_unveils_revolutionary_alternative_to_processing_credit_card_transactions Bank tellers, restaurant workers and other service employees in New York City lifted credit card data from residents and foreign tourists as part of an identity theft ring that stretched out to China, Europe and the Middle East and victimized thousands, authorities said Friday. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/nyc_identity_theft_and_credit_card_fraud_victimized_thousands_more_than_100_arrested_says_d_a Small merchants are not much more aware of—let alone compliant with—the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) than they were a year ago, according to a study released this week. Some 53% of small merchants are now at least aware of PCI, a small increase from the 47% a similar survey found in 2010. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/awareness_of_pci_remains_shockingly_low_among_small_merchants With a freshly revised version of industry rules for payment card data security having just emerged (Digital Transactions News, Oct. 28), further evidence is also surfacing of the compliance challenge acquirers face with the smallest merchants. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/survey_outlines_compliance_challenge_among_small_merchants A ring of identity thieves recruited waiters at some of New York's most well-known steakhouses to steal credit-card information from diners that was then used to make millions of dollars in illicit purchases, authorities charged on Friday. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/steakhouse_staff_allegedly_took_cut authorities have arrested a suspect who ran an identity theft and credit card skimming ring that victimized more than 780 people was convicted in federal court this week. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/md_man_convicted_in_identity_theft_card_skimming_case A Norfolk man, Tiquan Savary, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a federal grand jury for running a fraudulent scheme to skim credit and debit card account numbers. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/norfolk_man_gets_7_years_in_credit_card_skimming_case A former Waterloo waitress has been sent to prison for allegedly using her customers' credit card information to make new cards. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/ex-waitress_sentenced_in_counterfeit_card_scheme Blank credit cards, holograms, magnetic strips and stolen account information are selling in bulk on websites that offer identity thieves a one-stop shop for their counterfeit-credit-card schemes. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/fake-credit-card_schemes_plague_south_florida The most common place for credit card information to be stolen is at a restaurant, according to Visa. The credit card company, which constantly monitors cardholder transactions and data for fraud, has determined that 40 percent of all credit card theft occurs at dining locations -- more than at any other type of merchant. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/pasta_meatballs_and_credit_card_theft Eight restaurant employees in Los Angeles, California were arrested for stealing the credit card information of customers and selling that information for $200 a pop and one more suspect is still being sought. In all, about one-million dollars was stolen as a result of this fraud http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/credit_card_fraud_at_restaurants_isnt_an_urban_legend Authorities say Chibuzo Okafor, who worked at the Stamford Town Center Chinese bistro, was one of two women who used skimming devices to steal credit card information from September 2008 to January 2009. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/former_waitress_gets_2_months_in_jail A disgruntled waitress is at the heart of a credit-card skimming scam that has affected at least nine customers of a Port Richey, Fla., eatery known as Mugs N Jugs. http://www.cardattableservice.com//about-bellatrix-systems/news-stories/florida_waitress_repays_bad_tippers_by_stealing_credit-card_info