Law enforcement officials in New York City busted as many a ring of identity theives today that are suspected of stealing credit card information from restaurant patrons. According to reports, the identity thieves recruited waiters at upscale New York steakhouses and restaurants such as Smith & Wollensky and Wolfgang's Steakhouse to use skimming devices that copied as many as 50 restaurant patrons' credit card information while they dined. Thieves then used the stolen credit card information to make purchases at high end stores such as Neiman Marcus, Chanel and Cartier. In many instances the thieves kept the luxury merchandise, though they also sold their purchases to third parties. New York law enforcement officials seized as much as $1 million in cash, several luxury watches and a collection of expensive wines from storage lockers the ring kept around the city. The ring also allegedly made false drivers licenses and identification cards for use along with the credit card information. While arraignments were ongoing today, as many as 28 unidentified people were charged with racketeering and other crimes in a New York court.

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