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Speak Up! Memphis

Police Say Germantown Waitress Involved in ID Theft Ring

Germantown Police and the Secret Service are investigating an identity theft ring that was working out of a Germantown steak and seafood restaurant.

Police said 32-year-old Jessica Holden was arrested on charges of stealing customers' credit card numbers and storing them in a portable swiping device.  Holden then sold or traded the information to an unidentified third party, police said.

Theresa Baker, owner of Mister "B's" restaurant, told Eyewitness News Everywhere she became aware of the problem in the late summer when customers started calling to complain of bogus credit card charges shortly after visiting the restaurant.  Baker said the operation was shut down after a few weeks, but not before about 150 customers had their information stolen.

Baker said she too feels like a victim and has taken new security measures at her restaurant to prevent any future security breach. 

Does this story make you feel unsure about using your credit or debit cards at restaurants? It's your turn to Speak Up! Memphis?

Published Thursday, November 01, 2007 12:55 PM by APhillips

Comments

 

Tim said:

This scank needs to do a couple of years on this.  Home invasion and ID theft are two crimes that have far too light a sentence.

But hey if you home invade a second time you may do a couple of years with the new law.

Of course you have destroyed a whole neighborhoods peace of mind and will promote an exodus of normal people.  The true damage is far in excess of the listed damage.  It destroys a neighborhood.

Credit/ID theft can affect people for years and cost people money they can't recover in raised interest rates etc
November 1, 2007 1:41 PM
 

m said:

My fiance was a victim of this same crime. It happened at the Shell at Germantown Parkway and Cordova Road. All of his money was withdrawn in sums of $200 each from ATMs in the Hickory Hill area between 2am & 4am, several hours after he made his purchase at the gas station. And we live in Cordova, and both work day jobs...so needless to say, we were not in Hickory Hill at these hours. And it took over 2 weeks for him to get his money back. The worst parts of this are 1) when he filed the police report, the officer said he knew who my fiance was referring to (a large black man, dressed as a woman with long nails and a stupid bluetooth device in the ear, also, my fiance knew the man's name at this time because he had gone into the Shell station and asked another employee about the guy) , and the officer said that he/she had done the same thing at a Wendy's on Hwy 64. and 2) the guy is still working there, last we saw. These people are crooks and should be punished! It makes me so mad when I think of that man taking hundreds of dollars of someone elses money to go do who knows what with it! If you don't have enough money, get a better job! Don't steal from others!


So beware of the Shell at Cordova Road & Germantown Parkway. I don't use my cards anywhere anymore! It's not worth the risk. The criminals are barely even punished, obviously. And it's the banks that really lose. The crooks don't have to pay back the money they have stolen.
November 1, 2007 2:37 PM
 

Renee said:

She needs to pay for this without getting a slap on the wrist.
November 1, 2007 4:16 PM
 

shawna said:

One can only hope this girl will not go unpunished! She deserves to pay for this crime. The courts need to make an example out of this wrong doing!! We are so glad our family never ate at mister b"s!
November 1, 2007 7:44 PM
 

Daniels, G. said:

What in the hell was this girl thinking? She deserves the maximum sentence, no doubt about it.
November 1, 2007 7:50 PM
 

Julie D said:

This happened to my daughter after eating at a restaurant in downtown Memphis.  She says this girl looks very much like the waitress she had that evening - even though it was in a different restaurant.  I wonder if she has worked other places before this.  It is just too easy to steal identity and credit card information today.
November 2, 2007 9:17 AM
 

Travis Bickle said:

Tim:  Look at this story... A white criminal...I think the news media was just looking to single out this girl.  IT'S RACIST I tell you!


Bet this stirs the pot.
November 2, 2007 11:08 AM
 

Tim said:

"Travis Bickle said:
Tim:  Look at this story... A white criminal...I think the news media was just looking to single out this girl.  IT'S RACIST I tell you!"
_______________________________

Yes to be consistent we (whites) need to get David Duke up here.  Al and he share a lot of the same traits.
November 2, 2007 12:23 PM
 

Me & Me blog archive » If it Ain???t Broke ??? said:

November 2, 2007 2:04 PM
 

Bartlettman said:

I think this girl was set-up by someone, this is a racist scheme to discredit a white woman that was just out trying to earn a living...


November 5, 2007 9:33 AM
 

mary jo said:

mr b 's refused to hire people of color, they are afraid of blacks stealing from them.  but  one of their own kind  robbed their customers.  this should be a reality check for mr b 's owners.   the next time i patronage your business i hope to see people of color.   shame, shame, shame.
   
November 5, 2007 11:59 AM
 

Pretty23 said:

  Bartlettman said:
I think this girl was set-up by someone, this is a racist scheme to discredit a white woman that was just out trying to earn a living...

I know you are being sarcastic because black people try to use the race card when they are caught in criminal acts. Lol. I'm black and I can't even be mad at you. The truth is the truth.
November 5, 2007 12:01 PM
 

Bartlettman said:

THANK YOU!!!

You got my point!
November 5, 2007 12:16 PM
 

Pretty23 said:

Bartlettman, you are hilarious!
November 5, 2007 2:56 PM
 

City Kid said:

ID theft happened to me several years ago. I am still burdened on occasion. I don't see any reason why there are not better systems in place with all the technology we have in this day.
I blame half of the ID theft problem on the credit card companies. They say they are working to solve the problems but they can't seem to get it right.
Why not just add a fingerprint scanner to the transaction terminal so when a person uses a credit card the terminal will verify both the card and the person using it. This would also serve useful when a person tries to use the card and is denied. A high number of incidents like that and the credit card company can then prosecute the offender with a great deal of success.
For online transactions a system could be set up where the user has to log in to their credit card account immediately after placing an online order and also from a different browser window where they would have to approve the transaction for the order they placed before it could be approved. YEA it is a little hassle but again the credit card company will have a trace by use of IP address and they can use that to prosecute.
These systems might be a little bit of a hassle but I think it is worth it for absulute protection.
November 7, 2007 8:48 AM
 

Bartlettman said:

Pretty23 you are one of the only ones that understand my sarcasm. You must be smarter than everyone here.     (except me, haha)
November 7, 2007 10:10 AM
 

Bartlettman said:

How 'bout a date Pretty?
November 7, 2007 10:11 AM
 

Kristen said:

I'm white and I know this girl. She's a crackhead, and so are you. It isn't a race issue. Dumbass.
November 11, 2007 5:41 PM
 

jason said:

I think all of u should be put in her poss. U dont know what she deals withon a daily basis. U dont know her so dont make like u do. And for the girl that knows her. Shes not a crackhead.
December 13, 2007 11:37 AM
 

Joe said:

Wow those poor, poor credit card companies are going to get beat for all that money the same companies that charge up to 29% interest on a cash advance and have put more people into debt than any crook could dream off. The girl was a idiot to get involved trying to beat a ruthless loan shark corporation aka credit card company. Then she was really stupid to admit it and tell on everyone. All you have to do is fill out a form if your card was compromised and you pay NOTHING ZERO. This is a sweet heart scam compared to the crook who really steals your identity and opens 30 accounts now that is real identity theft and is  a pain to clean up. The waitress committed credit card fraud which is a big difference. Let's save the jail space for people who rape, sell heroin and stick you up with a gun. Make her wash dishes in the restaurant for free for 2 years and chain her to the dishwasher so she can't get near a credit card lol. I am sick of credit card companies crying like little babies when they get beat. They are lowlifes way worse than these thieves using propaganda to convince us they are oh so good while they rob everyone with there high interest rates and not to mention every merchant has to fork over 2-7% of the transaction which we all know we wind having to pay because the merchant passes the cost of this theivery over to the customer.
January 16, 2008 9:06 AM
 

http://community.myeyewitnessnews.com/blogs/speakup/archive/2007/11/01/2115791.aspx said:

March 16, 2008 3:27 PM
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