Credit Card Scam REAL?

Was the credit card scam a real scam that actually happens in real life?

I always remembered rumors of really shady bartenders who did a bunch of shady tricks and if this type of scam was based on a real scam in real life im sure these same shady bartenders would definitely do this scam.

My question is do you think some shady bartenders and cashiers or waiters really use this shady scam credit card swipe machine that records the unsuspecting customer's credit card information like that?