By VICTOR SKINNER
TRAVERSE CITY -- Jim Cartwright's restaurant used the best credit card processing equipment he could find, and he used anti-virus and other software to protect his customers against fraud.
Despite his efforts, more than 40 Red Mesa Grill customers recently discovered fraudulent charges on their cards after using them to pay for meals at the restaurant at 1544 U.S. 31 North in Traverse City, authorities said.
"We have done everything we are aware that we can do to safeguard cardholder information. The people that committed the fraud I was led to believe ... did it through hacking," Cartwright said. "It's the world we live in right now. It's a running battle. Criminals are evolving as far as their use of technology."
Grand Traverse County sheriff's officials launched an investigation in April after they received numerous complaints from local banks about unauthorized charges. Investigators realized all the fraudulent charges occurred after the victims used credit cards at Red Mesa, Undersheriff Nathan Alger said.
"The crime didn't occur here. It wasn't an employee of the Red Mesa writing down credit card numbers. It involved hacking schemes and things like that," Alger said. "The numbers on the cards were being used out west in Arizona and California. When the connection was established to Arizona, we turned it over to the (FBI)."
Alger didn't know how much was charged on victims' credit cards. There are no local suspects, and Red Mesa Grill was the lone area business involved, he said.
"There was a group of people arrested in Mesa, Ariz., and in California. We believe these people were also involved in this credit card fraud," he said.
Dawn Clenney, spokeswoman for the FBI's Detroit office, said no related charges have been filed in Michigan and referred further comment to the Phoenix, Ariz.-based FBI office.
Messages left with Phoenix spokeswoman Debra McCarley were not returned.
The FBI investigation is ongoing, Alger said.
Meanwhile, Cartwright is trying to find better ways to prevent future problems at his restaurant.
"We have subsequently reviewed everything and we are actually working with a local firm to see if there is more that we can do," he said. "We feed a lot of people and we are safe."
