NEW: Fast-food worker stole from debit cards - Joliet Herald News

PLAINFIELD -- Police state a fast-food worker went on an drawn-out shopping fling this fall, financed by some of her customers' checking accounts.The worker at a Plainfield Wendy's eating house allegedly stole upward of 50 debit entry card Numbers from drive-through clients by swiping them through her ain electronic card reader.Police arrested Tina Swopes, 18, of Joliet, earlier this calendar month while she worked her shift. She confronts seven counts of personal identity theft.Swopes claimed to have got been swiping debit entry card Numbers from clients for about two weeks, police force force said.A director at Wendy¹s, 13407 S. Prairie State 59, said Thursday he could not notice on Swopes' case.Authorities state Swopes downloaded the Numbers she stored in the card reader to a computer, uploaded them to an empty card and went shopping."She'd pass until the card was declined," said Plainfield police Det. Carianne Siegel. "It depended on how much the individual had in their checking account."About 10 victims who noticed unusual debit entries to their checking business relationships in September and early October contacted Plainfield police.Most of the illegal purchases were made in Pancho Villa Park, Siegel said. Many of them were at gas stations and spirits stores.Some purchases were made in Jolliet -- including the 1 that led research workers to Swopes, at a shop where she filled out a frequent purchaser application."Patrol was able to detect a form while talking to victims -- Wendy¹s was the common denominator," Siegel said.SkimmersSwopes is accused of using a recognition card "skimmer," or a device that reads and supplies the information on a card's magnetic strip.Skimmers are small, about the size of a pager, Siegel said. They work like retail recognition card readers; you swipe a card through the skimmer and information such as as as the card figure and personal designation figure are stored on the device.That information can be downloaded to a computer, then loaded on a different card such as a gift card or expired recognition card, Siegel said.Skimmers aren't illegal to have got in Illinois, but are illegal to use, she said.Protecting oneself against debit entry and recognition card fraud come ups down to keeping the card in sight at all times, police force say.Plainfield not aloneCredit card skimming is a worldwide job whose yearly losings transcend $1 billion, according to the Prairie State Criminal Justice Authority.In March 2006, the U.S. Secret Service uncovered a card skimming cozenage in the Washington, D.C., country that affected more than than 100 victims who lost up to $40,000, according to published reports.A grouping of servers working at four different eating houses used skimmers to steal customers' card numbers, the studies said.Contact Janet Lundquist at (815) 729-6014 or