11/23/2005

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)- A waitress at a popular Fenwick Island restaurant appeared in federal court Monday on charges of aggravated identity theft.

Katsiaryna Kabiarets, 23, is accused of using a hand-held credit card reader to steal the account numbers of customers she served during the summer at Harpoon Hanna's. If convicted, she faces a minimum of two years in jail and a possible fine of up to $250,000.

Kabiarets, a native of Belarus who is in the United States on a temporary work visa and lives in Ocean City, Md., told investigators she copied approximately 50 card numbers, according to court papers.

In court Monday, Kabiarets was assigned a public defender and answered only yes-and-no questions. A Russian translator was provided, but Kabiarets told the judge she understood English. She was not required to enter a plea during the appearance.

The criminal complaint, made public Monday, said federal investigators were contacted by American Express about compromised accounts in early November.

According to court papers, Kabiarets told investigators she was approached by a Russian man at a party in New York, and that he gave her a small device to copy card numbers, offering a bounty of $10 for Visa and MasterCard numbers and $15 for American Express numbers. She told investigators the man paid more for American Express numbers because "he said they were easier to counterfeit."

She said she used the device in August and gave it back to the man in New York, in September, according to court papers. When police searched Kabiarets' residence, however, they recovered a card reader, two computers and identification and credit cards belonging to other people.

Investigators said fraudulent charges have been made on the accounts of at least seven American Express cardholders, six of whom were customers of Kabiarets. One other person was not served by Kabiarets but was at the restaurant when she was working.

A California credit card industry analyst told a Wilmington newspapers that he was surprised by the claim about American Express cards, saying the company has a good reputation in the industry for security.

"That is weird. I've never heard anything like that," said Bruce Cundiff of Javelin Strategy and Research. "It is not easier to skim American Express cards versus Visa and MasterCards. They all use the same technology," he said.

According to a recent report by Javelin, more than 9.3 million Americans were the victims of identity theft last year, resulting in a loss of approximately $52.6 billion.