A recent spike in credit fraud linked to Paul Martin's American Bistro has prompted Roseville Police to enlist the help of the Secret Service and remind consumers to protect their electronic finances.

At least 200 credit cards have been compromised since March, likely from the same source, police say. At least one customer reported that a person in England tried to withdraw $3,000 from his credit card.

That’s consistent with Vanessa Oddo’s findings at SAFE Credit Union. The bank’s loss prevention manager said a small number of local SAFE clients were affected, some with attempted thefts from abroad and totaling as much as $15,000 in one aborted effort.

“I’ve confirmed with the Secret Service that card thieves are getting more aggressive,” Oddo said.

Part of the reason, Oddo said, is that credit card “technology is just as available to legitimate business owners as it is to cyber criminals.”

Detectives believe the problem was isolated to computer systems at Paul Martin's at 1455 Eureka Road, and did not involve external financial services or a third-party data processing service.

“We’re enraged,” Paul Martin's operating partner Ben Magana said Wednesday. “It’s unfair. We put our trust in the system and it was violated.”

The restaurant brought in computer security specialists to examine its system and will use other methods to process credit card transactions. Magana wouldn’t elaborate on the new system, but said, “I can guarantee it’s secure.”

Unknown cyber-criminals accessed the restaurant's credit card processing system to steal and then sell credit card numbers, police said in a statement.

“Because this is going to be a large investigation with fraudulent use occurring all over the United States, we need the resources of the federal government,” police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.

Janet Glenn, a regular patron at Paul Martin’s, said she tries to use cash and keeps a sharp eye on her credit card. She’s especially wary now after someone illegally spent $500 on her husband’s card two weeks ago, though she doesn’t know if it was connected to the current investigation. But none of the blame, she said, belongs to the restaurant.

“We’ll never stop going to Paul Martin’s,” Glenn said.

Next door, at Bravo! Pastaria, owner Mark Manchester said he got a call from his credit card company after it heard about the credit fraud at Paul Martin’s. There have been no breaches at his eatery, but Manchester is familiar with fraud. In the past 10 weeks he has received four phone calls from scammers urging him to send them money. Now he just puts them on hold until they hang up.

“It’s just a sad thing when we have to run around worried,” he said.

Police and bank officials also advised consumers:

• Contact your lending institution immediately to notify it of the potential compromise.
• Ask the lending institution to block your old credit card and issue a new one with a new number.
• If you find any unauthorized transactions or attempts on your credit card, file a report with your local law enforcement agency.
• Continue to closely monitor your credit card transactions, and if fraud has occurred, place a fraud alert with the three major credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experion. (Contact your lending institution first--it may already have a plan to provide this service for you.)
• While criminals are able to use stolen credit card numbers temporarily, in most circumstances the financial institution will be able to reimburse customers for their losses and block the account from future intrusions using the compromised credit card number.
• Notify your bank if you are going on vacation so they can note unusual spending.
• Update your contact information so banks can reach you immediately in case of a compromise.

Lien Hoang can be reached at lienh@goldcountrymedia.com.