You may want to think twice before paying with a card.
Sherwood Police said there’s been an increase of Financial Identify Theft at local restaurants.
“A 17-year-old, a female, that was taking a picture of a debit card at one of our fast food restaurants here in Sherwood, she was caught on camera by the manager,” Sherwood Police Sergeant Tyler Gaunt said.
That woman was arrested Friday, but Gaunt said there are more people out there trying to pocket card information.
“We’ve kind of had a rash of instances lately where people at restaurants, especially with drive-thrus that you use a debit or credit cards, where they’ll take pictures of your credit card with a phone,” Gaunt said.
They’ll later try to spend money with the card information or sell it to someone else.
“They can save that information on card readers. They can make their own cards. They’ll use it at a gas station first to try it if it works,” Gaunt said.
Police highly recommend using cash.
“If you have to use a card make sure you pay close attention to your bank account, especially if that card goes out of your sight,” Gaunt said.
Thanks to technology, police have been able to track fraud by looking at the date of transactions and matching it to the restaurant’s security footage. Police encourage all restaurant owners to install cameras.
“I would get a camera system up that monitors your cash registers for sure,” Gaunt said.
This is an ongoing investigation and police aren't how many people have been affected yet.
Sherwood Police said if you fall victim to card frauds report it to police and to the Attorney General's Office.
If you still prefer paying with a card you do have options to fight fraud and they start with contacting your bank right away.