A cafe customer in North Carolina lost $2,000 after her favorite diner posted all of her credit card information online for the world to see.
After her doctor’s appointment on April 30, Rhonda Deaver visited Smith’s Cafe in Kinston every week to eat at the restaurant, about 130 miles southeast of Raleigh.
While driving home, Deaver received a call from her bank saying she had left her credit card at a cafe.
When she returned to the diner, cafe staff told Deaver that they had taken photos of the front and back of the card to track her and posted them on a local Facebook group.
“Hey everyone, Ms. Rhonda Deaver, you left your debit card at the store. I left it in a safe place. If you know her, please let her know we have it. I would like it back!!” A cafe posted in the “Review Kinston” group.
However, this gesture of goodwill was not thoroughly thought out.
The employee forgot to blur out the number on the card, leaving personal information exposed to malicious individuals.
Deaver ended up with $2,000 worth of charges after making multiple purchases using the card number.
“I couldn’t believe they did that, but it made me sick to think that I was responsible for all these charges.” Deaver told WCTI.
Fortunately, the card’s security features did not allow some of the purchases.
“It was used all the time, it was turned down so many times, so many things happened,” the angry customer said.
Deaver’s bank closed the account associated with the card, but she still had to fight multiple charges.
Deaver said the $2,000 worth of bills took a huge financial toll.
“I live on a fixed income, but it’s not like I have extra money every month to cover the charges someone charges to my card,” she added.
Deaver contested all charges.
Financial experts have warned against posting photos of credit cards online, even if the number has been blocked, as malicious individuals may find a way to obtain the information.
“I’m concerned about whether people can somehow reverse this situation,” Meredith Radford of the Better Business Bureau told the outlet.
“It’s easy to cancel your credit card and get a new one at work, even just to find that person, but it’s not worth it.”
The owner of Smith’s Cafe declined to comment to WCTI 12.
