By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Riverside Golf Club’s restaurant in Chehalis has stopped taking credit cards temporarily while they track down a potential breach of their system.
Manager Jena Sorenson said today she was contacted over the weekend by a woman who said her credit card was hacked, after it was used at their establishment.
The woman told her that the charges didn’t go through, but someone attempted to make purchases at Rite Aid three days after a lunch at Riverside, Sorenson said.
The woman posted it on Facebook, and then Sorenson got calls from two others who claimed a similar experience.
Sorenson said at this point, she’s not certain the problem is related to their business, but she’s not taking any chances.
She’s been in touch with their computer software company in case somehow malware has gotten into their system. She’s contacted their credit card processing company, and they’ve started an investigation, she said.
She’s confident it’s not an employee.
She wants to reassure customers nobody is at risk by coming to dine with them, as they just won’t accept credit cards until she’s 100 percent sure it’s safe to pay that way.
Riverside Bistro and Bar is at the golf course on Northwest Airport Road, along the Chehalis River. Her family has owned it for the past nine years, she said.
The golf course uses a different machine and credit card processor, according to Sorenson.
Sorenson was troubled the customer announced her issue on Facebook before even calling the restaurant, and frustrated there wasn’t anything she could do about it over the weekend, she said.
Riverside is as much victims of whatever may have happened, as the customer is, she said. And it can be damaging to a business to have such things shared widely that way, she said.
Credit card companies are pretty good with the protections they provide cardholders and it’s something that’s increasingly common for people in general, according to Sorenson.
“Almost everybody I know has had their credit card compromised,” she said. “This is the age of how people don’t steal your wallet, they steal your credit card (number).”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
The kind of people who become ID thieves have already decided they’d rather get money without working for it or paying taxes. ID theft isn’t a cause of character defect, it’s a symptom.
And, yes, this will hurt Riverside. As dependent as we’ve become on everything BUT cash, something like a credit/debit card breach can cripple a business if they choose the route Riverside is taking. Kudos to the owners for being willing to suffer so they can get this squared away. Many others in the same position wouldn’t. I don’t see Premera shutting down even though a hacker has just accessed ALL their data on us, including Social Security numbers.
Lottie:
Very good point. If criminal enterprises put as much time and effort into legal ventures who knows where we would be…cure for cancer? No more poverty?
But greed is the driving force.
I never get why this happens. If people who do this type of crime used the same brains they could make good money LEGALLY and not be high tech hoodlums. I’m not sure how to prevent this but it’s nuts. The owner of this restraunt is a good establishment. It’s a hard working crew there. But now they can’t take credit/debit cards.So I’m assuming she has people who want to eat and enjoy but uh oh they didn’t know about this and now they have to get cash from other sources. A big inconvience for the customers and a bigger for the owner. This economy in business cannot be down for that long. I’m guessing there is reports to fill out and customers calling. I hope this is resolved soon.
Totally agreed, Bobby. A bad person who’s reasonably tech-savvy can really do a lot of damage. We have to stay on top of our money AND our credit.
I only use a debit card through my account at a smaller regional bank and check my account at least twice a week. Someone tried using my account number for small purchases in three states a couple years ago, but thankfully the bank caught it and I’ve been a little more vigilant since.
I agree. I understand being frustrated with that happening at a local business but give the business the courtesy of a call so they can look into it as well before just posting on FB.
I have followed restaurant staff into their back room to watch them swipe my card. i do not let it out of my sight. That way a quick scan cannot be done on your card without you knowing about it.
Monitoring your account daily also keeps you up to date on any fraudulent charges that may be processed.