Police: Wendy's cashier caught stealing customers' info

ATLANTA — Police are investigating after they say a Wendy's employee stole several customers' credit card information earlier this week.

The cashier, who works at the Wendy's on Marietta Boulevard in northwest Atlanta, is accused of taking a picture of a man's debit card Monday afternoon as the man went through the drive-thru to place an order.

The victim, identified as Angelo Marrero, said he knew something wasn't right when he caught the woman staring at the security code on his card.

"I noticed that when she gave it back to me, she gave it back to me on the reverse side and she was looking at the security code," Marrero said.

He rushed back to work and forgot about it – until his bank called him about two hours later.

"They tell me a charge was attempted for a women’s clothing store," Marrero said.

He requested a copy of the receipt and noticed that the address on it was in the same neighborhood as the Wendy’s restaurant.

"I put two and two together and then I said, 'It has to be her because for one, I saw her looking at the security code and two, the address on this receipt is 2 or 3 miles away," Marrero said.

TRENDING STORIES:

He said he called police and headed back to the restaurant.

Marrero told Channel 2 Action News when police went to review surveillance video after he filed a report, the cashier took off running through the back door.

"She walks out the door and she dashes across the parking lot," Marrero said.

Officials said they are gathering information to file charges and warned there could be more victims.

"It's an eye-opening experience," Marrero said. "If she did it to me, she did it to the customer before me. You don’t know how many people she’s done this to."

The general manager at the Wendy's said the employee, who had only been working for less than a week, managed to steal customer information eight times -- and it's all on camera.

The manager said he terminated her and wants everyone to know he had no idea the former worker was stealing information.

Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard said it's important to use a credit card instead of a debit card while out to eat.

"When it’s a debit card, it can mean your car payment bounces, your rent payment bounces, whatever. It's so important that if you qualify for a credit card and you can handle it. You have that instead of a debit card," Howard said.

Managers at the Wendy's hope the woman is arrested soon. They believe she might be going from job to job stealing credit card information.

Cox Media Group