Credit Card Purchases......

Credit and Debit cards are convenient ways to pay for purchases at restaurants but one thing that many consumers forget to do is fill out the receipt completely. Since so many consumers do not check their bank and credit card statements on a consistent basis, many of you may have been scammed or victims of tip fraud and not aware of it. Have you been to Fridays or Beggars Pizza? The waiter or waitress brings your receipt;  well many of you skip THE MOST important step which is filling out the tip line. If you are leaving the tip in cash and not applying that to your card purchase you ALWAYS want to fill out that line so that no one can go in and fill out that line for you. Below is the correct way to fill out a receipt from a restaurant or fast food establishment.

Example 1:

There have been many cases when reviewing a clients bank statement and the receipt amount does not match up, well 80% of the time it was because there was an additional tip amount added to the receipt. If you leave this line blank the waiter can enter an additional tip amount and charge it to your credit card. How??? Well when they run your card it places a hold on your card for the pending meal purchase, at the end of the night the waiter settles your transaction by running a batch of receipts that were charged to credit/debit cards for the day. Some unethical people will charge additional amount to your card and it will be processed. Many restaurants get away with this scam because so many consumers do not check their statements or balance their receipts. So going forward please be aware and make sure to check your bank and credit card statements on a consistent basis.