Eight Admit Skimming Credit Cards at D.C. Restaurants

Eight people have pleaded guilty to stealing credit card numbers from patrons at Washington restaurants and using them to buy more than $730,000 worth of merchandise.

Federal prosecutors said Monday that five former servers at M&S Grill, Clyde’s Restaurant and 701 Restaurant used hand-held skimming devices to steal credit card numbers and provide them to three Maryland men.

The men would then slide their own credit cards through another device, encoding the stolen card numbers into magnetic strips on their cards. They used the stolen numbers to buy clothing and other goods.

Officials say the eight people pleaded guilty over the last two months to various charges, including fraud. The case was prosecuted in Alexandria because many of the purchases were made in northern Virginia.

Information from: The Washington Post