Chicago card skimming ring busted at Wrigley Field

6 charged in skimming scheme at restaurants, Wrigley Field

Six people are accused of stealing bank information from patrons at Chicago restaurants and Wrigley Field, then running up more than $200,000 in purchases on phony cards. Joseph Woods, 32, allegedly paid employees to skim credit card information by using a small credit card reader provided by Woods, according to the state attorney genereal's office. The employees would swipe the cards and Woods would create counterfeit cards to charge up thousands of dollars in purchases, the office said. Britain Woods, 33, Essence Houston, 28, Jenette Farrar, 34, and Kenyatta Davis, 31, worked at Wrigley Field, RL Restaurant, Taco Bell andMcDonald's, officials said. Alex Houston, 22, along with Joseph Woods, was charged with using the phony credit cards to make illegal purchases, officials said. The suspects, all from Chicago, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit a financial crime, which carries a sentence from four to up to 15 years, officials said. Joseph Woods, Essence Houston, Alex Houston and Davis also were charged with continuing a financial crimes enterprise. Joseph Woods, Alex Houston and Davis face an additional identity theft charge that carries a sentence of from three to seven years, officials said. Officials said the bank accounts that were compromised include Chase, U.S. Bank, Citibank, Harris Bank, American Express, Bank of America and Fifth Third Bank.

The Art of Giving

The Art of Giving - Donate to Non-profits

What is giving? One way it has been defined Is: “to present voluntarily -- without expecting compensation.” Giving, then, is a choice, an option with no obligatory strings. It extends its hand to help and not to take. Giving can be a selfless and sacrificial act and expressed in many ways. Its effects ripple through society and bring in waves of relief, comfort, and aid.   Business owners that elect to donate to non-profits is one prime example.  Read more

Inspired to be Excellent

I was on the train earlier this week on my way into Beautiful downtown Chicago and decided I wanted to catch up on some of my emails.  I came across a blog post from one of my favorite angel investor/adviser, Jason Calacanis, founder of www.launch.co.

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Top 10 Questions About Your Merchant Account

Man our customers have a lot of questions about their merchant accounts!!

We have decided to take the list of top 10 questions that our customers submit about their merchant account and post them here so maybe a few of you might find your answers before you call us or email us... although we like the calls and emails... so keep those coming and we can talk about more important things like... the weather... sports... Jeff's new haircut... Whatever floats your boat.    Okay, enough of that.  Here is the list in no particular order: hmm, Jake makes a good point.  We cheated and I guess you got our top 14 list as some of these are 2 for 1s... Isn't it just your lucky day  8-) Read more

USA Giving Donation Statistics Report

USA Giving Donation Statistics Report

With the 2012 report quickly approaching, let's revisit the 2011 report.  Here is some interesting data from the Giving USA report for 2011. Giving in the U.S. in 2010 showed a modest uptick over adjusted numbers for 2009, according to Giving USA. The report, released this week by the Giving USA Foundation™ and its research partner, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, showed that total charitable contributions from American individuals, corporations and foundations were an estimated $290.89 billion in 2010, up from a revised estimate of $280.30 billion for 2009. The 2010 estimate represents growth of 3.8 percent in current dollars and 2.1 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. Read more