Drive-Thru Identity Theft

A fast-food fraud scheme, too good to be true..

By Lydia Richins, Marketing —

You’re in a rush and you’re hungry. One (or two) hamburgers later and you’re on the road off to your next appointment. How would it take for you to realize that your credit card is missing? Minutes? Hours? Days? Perhaps once you realized the mistake, you’d search your car and scour your house.

The Crime

Unfortunately for you, the card’s nowhere to be found –and this new reality hits you once you start seeing unknown purchases on your card. After involving the police, they discover the culprit was the fast food joint’s drive-thru cashier, who failed to returned your card. And, naturally, you were in a hurry so you didn’t even notice.

The Thief

In reality, this actually happened to several customers of a Wendy’s restaurant in Wallburg, North Carolina. A now-former employee, Lyndsey Hayes, was caught in early January and is facing multiple charges, including identity theft, financial card theft, obtaining property by false pretenses, and attempted obtainment of property by false pretenses. A grand total of 17 warrants have been obtained on these charges.

The Next Time

When IdentityDetect™is implemented on a larger scale, fraudsters won’t be able to get far with your credit card. By simply monitoring keystroke activity, this technology can catch thieves before they spend your money. This technology would make our lives worry-free, and certainly would have helped several Wendy’s customers in the small town of Wallburg, North Carolina from being taken advantage of.

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Photo by / Micheile Henderson