Gothamist: Brooklyn's "Chef Dan" Arrested for Credit Card Identity Theft

buzychefblowz

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:02:38 -0500

yeah, this asswipe charged me $1,008 for a piece of lasagna. i went in and asked him to take care of it, which they did. then, two months later, my bank informed me that busy chef's bank had claimed that the charge was legitimate, and their bank was contesting the 'charge back.' i went in and yelled at them until they took care of it. it definitely seemed very shady. their accountant was a completely worthless bitch. these people are scum.

NOFEARBRUCE

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:47:05 -0500

I am sure that it wasn't just $25,000.00. If he has been doing this for years, it could be well over six figures. I signed up with shieldsafe.com to make sure that I don't become an identity theft victim. They are law enforcement pros and guarntee the protection with $1,000,000.00. They should throw the book and the pots and pans at him.

NannyState

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:42:32 -0500

It only got up to $25,000 before someone noticed and he got caught. What a fool for running it up so high on his customers, a few dollars here or there would have kept the scam going for months, possibly years and the charges against him would be misdemeanors. Either way, he'll do his time, easily come up with restitution, and guess what? He'll move back to Ohio and open another restaurant.

Jen Chung

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:28:52 -0500

Some transactions were as high as $7,000. I guess what I'm trying to say is there's no reason, given that credit cards offer online statements, etc., that you can't monitor your credit card usage very carefully.

Spiritof76

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:26:46 -0500

$1500 each? Well, this is why Jen says you should check your statements. You just never know when a $1500 charge will just slip past without you noticing.

PBRK

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:55:51 -0500

The $25k is from only 24 transactions- people were getting billed $1500 after having a pizza. So is this type of fraud now commonplace? Looking over the threads on this it seems to be a dirty little secret among the industry.

woodendesigner

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:23:58 -0500

This guy needs to be made an extreme example of.

AvenueHebrew

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:10:58 -0500

Is this why the prices at BusyChef are so low? They charge you the rest when you're not looking?

edEx

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:58:05 -0500

this happens a lot at gas stations. i have had hundreds stolen from gas stations around new york state... i called my bank and they reimbursed me immediately and then did an investigation which turned up that the gas stations were guilty. i check my accounts frequently for this stuff...

Jake Dobkin

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:53:18 -0500

yeah, $25K is just puzzling, especially stealing it on credit cards like that-- because you know you're going to get caught pretty quick. sounds like there's a bigger story here that hasn't been written about yet.

Spiritof76

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:09:37 -0500

That's just stupid. $25k is not worth jail time. If you can steal six figures or more and take off for Barbados, I can understand the impulse. But a paltry $25k?

Peter

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:03:03 -0500

Mommy and Daddy are posting his bail as we speak, I'm sure.