The most common place for credit card information to be stolen is at a restaurant, according to Visa.

The credit card company, which constantly monitors cardholder transactions and data for fraud, has determined that 40 percent of all credit card theft occurs at dining locations -- more than at any other type of merchant.

Gourmands are not being ripped off by waiters or busboys who quickly copy down their information, although that can happen. The problem is a bit more high tech than that.

Most of the theft actually occurs when hackers break into a restaurant's computer system and download the credit card information.

Visa is now starting to crack down on restaurants and other merchants that aren't properly storing credit card data.

Jennifer Fischer, a director in Visa's payment systems risk and compliance department, said the company was not sure why restaurants were more of a target than other businesses.

The running theory, she said, is that once vulnerability is found at a particular well-known restaurant franchise, crooks then exploit that weakness across the entire chain.

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