Yahoo Finance Sydney McDonald's demands ID from customers
A northern Sydney McDonald’s restaurant has reportedly started checking identification papers of customers, supposedly to reduce credit card fraud.
The outlet in St Leonards, as first reported by iTnews, has posted signage to warn hungry patrons that it would “randomly” request ID checks because of “recent fraudulent credit card usage”.
“We hope you understand this is to assist and protect our valued customers,” said the sign.
There is no other explanation as to how such a practice would “assist and protect” customers, nor a description of how that private information would be used and how it would be stored.
A McDonald’s Australia told Yahoo Finance after the publication of this story that checking customer identification is not company policy.
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“The sign was placed in the window by the licensee, but has now been removed,” the spokesperson said.
iTnews reports that because low-value purchases often do not require a PIN to be entered, fast food outlets can be vulnerable to criminals trying out cloned or stolen cards to see if they work.
Back in 2016, quick-service restaurants in Melbourne were reportedly hit by teenagers using stolen zero-value prepaid Visa cards from Australia Post to steal food, exploiting a software glitch.
Last month, a McDonald’s employee in Queensland pleaded guilty to stealing and attempted fraud after using a customer’s credit card to buy $2,000 worth of items online.
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