Charge card 'skimming' scam affects Applebee's

Nation's Restaurant News, May 7, 2001

PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. -- A nationwide crime trend involving the electronic theft of account information from customers' credit cards spread to this Gulf Coast town with the arrest of two former waiters of an Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar.

Det. Randy Whitney of the Charlotte County Sheriff's office said Richard Miner, 23, and Andrew Guanche, 21, conspired to pass the card information to contacts in Miami who would use the data to produce counterfeit cards.

So far, the fraud traced to the two amounted to about $27,000, but the total could "be much higher," Whitney said, adding that Applebee's officials "gave us complete cooperation, helping us bring this case to a close very quickly."