Millions of Credit Card Numbers Nabbed in Payment System Breach
It wasn't all that long ago that grocery shoppers at Hannaford were sent reeling with the news that their credit cards had been nabbed by hackers -- 4.2 million credit card numbers were stolen in total. If that was you, chances are you still haven't memorized your new credit card number, and that's just as well because you may need yet another one, as another breach has been identified -- one that may cover hundreds of millions of credit card users.St. Louis-based Heartland Payment announced yesterday that hackers gained access to the machines it uses to process roughly 100 million credit card transactions every month. The company handles transactions for 175,000 separate businesses and bills itself as having "the highest standards" and "the most trusted transactions." Despite that, the company has no idea how long its systems were being monitored, saying only that it was "longer than weeks."
Because of this nobody knows just how many cards were compromised, but given the sheer volume of cards that are processed, many are already calling this the largest data breach in history. Until they're able to figure out just who was affected, Mastercard and Visa are now warning all cardholders and banks to watch out for suspicious activity, even if they may not have been affected.
If there's some good news it's that only credit card numbers were nabbed, not addresses, so exposure should be somewhat limited. But regardless, the cost of sending millions of letters and millions of replacement cards will surely be massive, and given current economic conditions we're not sure just where all that money will come from. [From: USA Today]
Seven Security Breaches
45 Million Card Numbers Stolen from TJ Maxx and Marshall's
TJX Companies Inc., the umbrella corporation of TJ Maxx and Marshall's, was taken for over 45 million card numbers between 2004 and 2007. So much for those alleged TJ Maxx bargains.
Thieves Snag 4.2 Million Credit Card Numbers from Supermarket Chain
Sometime between December, 2007 and February, 2008, data thieves -- infiltrating the credit card authorization system of Hannaford Brothers and Sweetbay grocery stores -- managed to obtain the information of 4.2 million cards. Close to 2,000 cases of fraud were reported.
17 New Yorkers Busted for ID Theft and Money Laundering
Back in 2007, the New York-based company Western Express International was found to be a powerful credit-card harvesting operation, responsible for trafficking 95,000 stolen card numbers. Seventeen employees were indicted.
More Than Four Million Health Records Breached in 2008
According to research firm DataLoss DB, 4.07 million individuals had their healthcare records compromised last year. We know at least two of them belonged to Britney Spears and Farrah Fawcett, and were sold by a California hospital worker.
CardSystems Solutions Taken for 40 Million Accounts
Having snuck past the security systems of CardSystems Solutions, data thieves compromised around 40 million card accounts in 2005. No word on whether or not the company has considered changing the name to CardSystems Problems.
Hackers Who Stole Credit Card Numbers from Dave & Buster's Arrested
Last year, the Justice Department busted an international ring of hackers who had stolen an untold number of credit card numbers from the Dave & Buster's restaurant chain by installing software on the company's national servers. Reported losses were well in excess of $600,000.
11 Arrested in Theft of 41 Million Credit Card Numbers
In August of last year, Federal prosecutors charged 11 thieves in the U.S.A., former Soviet states and China with stealing 41 million credit cards' information. A Miami man, Albert Gonzalez, was charged as the group's mastermind.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
betty said 10:17PM on 1-21-2009
Everyone is stealing, People that handle important thing that has to do with people lifes, shouldn,t have they life turned up side down by companies that have peoples trust.People need to stop shopping with credit cards any way.It keep people spending money they don,t have . People go back to cash u will save more money .
At least u will spend what in your pockets and won,t owe all those
charges or get hit with late fee or over charges fee $29 & &39.00
is a lot of money to give these banks Banks give no one a break
You worry about your self keeping your credit straight and to have
some companies mess it up for you ,I bet the hacker work for the companie.LOL
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pixyz said 2:30PM on 1-24-2009
I did stop using credit, but I don't withdraw cash - I use a debit card to pay for gas and groceries. I don't want to withdraw $20 when I only need $8.49 to buy some cereal and milk.
Guess what? I got hit this time around, but luckily my bank was on top of it and canceled my bank card immediately because they recognized right away that the new charges were fraudulent.
bruce said 11:00AM on 1-25-2009
You can still use a credit card and not fear too much. Just ask for a $ 1000.00 limit SECURED credit card. This is easy to get. You put 1000 or 500 dollars in an account and that account is the security for the card. I do this at my credit union. The card is easy to get because there is no risk to the bank and the computer does not allow more than the security amount to be withdrawn. With fraud protection they claim you will eventually get it back and the most you can possibly be out, for a while, is the amount you set it up at.
Nim said 11:36PM on 1-21-2009
Ok is it me or is this a regular thing and credit card holders don't know for weeks sometimes months. I say make them accountible and a class action lawsuit should be one way. False advertisment since they say it has the highest standerds and yet doesn't know how long this has been going on. Never mind this crap of we'll monitor your credit reports and pay for anything that goes on. Hold them accountible make them dish out the cash. So tired of having my information compromised by my bank, credit card companies and retailers, heck if it was be being careless I could understand but having hackers go into the system someone isn't doing their jobs.
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jt44mag said 12:21AM on 1-22-2009
the REAL SCAM is that the credit card companies are behind this ..!!!..they give you new accounts .can then INCREASE the fees charged on your account ...JUST COMPARE YOUR NEW ACCOUNT WITH THE OLD ONE THEY CHANGED AND SEE IF THE FEES AND CONDITIONS REMAIN THE SAME ...THIS HAPPENED A FEW WEEKS AGO TO SEVERAL OF MY FRIENDS .....AND....EVERYONE ONE OF THEM ...GOT THEIR FEES INCREASED AND INTEREST CHARGES CHANGED ...!!!!....THEY SAID THE SAME THING TO ALL OF THEM ALSO ..THAT ONLY THE NUMBERS WERE OBTAINED .....BUT THEY WOULD NOT GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT THEY HAD WITH THE OLD CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS .....j.t.
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Shiralee V. said 5:55AM on 1-22-2009
Get scissors. Slice slit in side of mattress. Sew in zipper. Insert money into slit. Zip up. Smile. Unzip to access cash. Zip back up. Shop. Everyday - repeat.
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Tammy said 2:37PM on 1-22-2009
You are VERY FUNNY! Sounds good to me!
Deb said 6:44PM on 1-22-2009
Then when the thieves come in and take everything you have saved, that you can't prove you even had, you are up the creek without a paddle.
Adriane said 9:56AM on 1-26-2009
OMG....so funny, but you are so right!
Steve said 2:08PM on 1-22-2009
for one we dont have a gun to our heads to use credit cards - we CHOSE to use credit cards - if u cant pay cash for something why even have one - CREDIT cards u will NEVER Pay off - lucky i didnt owe but like 1000 bucks - i was being charged 32.00 dollars for finance charges my bill was 55 dollars a month - Think about it i would never had paid it off- I PAID ALL MY CREDIT cards off and canceled all CARDS- everyone should do the same thing -cancel all those damn cards and stop making these people rich
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Angelina said 3:25PM on 1-22-2009
the problem is we as a society need the stupid plastic cards to get good credit scores and even when u cancel all your credit cards to use cash, to help you better maintain finances it affects your credit in a big way.
It really is sad that we use these things that rip us off. I am 19 and when I got my bank account I promised to not sign up for a credit card and to only have a debit card for my account that way I never spend money that I have to pay back and more. And I also make sure to watch my banl account to make sure I NEVER SPEND MORE THAN WHAT IS IN MY ACCOUNT. These over the limit fees are ridiculous. My mom had a BOFA account and it has keep the change and it transferred 2.23 cents and made her account negative. She had no money in savings except that and when she tried to transfer it back it charged her so she was stuck paying the negative balance plus the two $35 they tack on for over the limit
emae said 4:17PM on 1-22-2009
If you read the small print and use credit cards responsibly they are a great asset.
1) Buy only what you can pay off each month - you have at least 4-5 wks free interest on that money.
2) Call credit crd companies to have them reduce your interest payment. Interest payments over 10-12% are charged mostly for people who are in over their heads...Others can get both interest reduced and fees refunded, especially if they have large credit balance they aren't using and suggest that they can/will go eslewhere for their credit.
3) Use cards which offer cash rebates--can be anywhere from1% to 5% or more.
Like any other credit offers, cards can be an asset if used carefully.
Eva said 8:52PM on 1-22-2009
Not advised to cancel credit cards, especially the ones you have had for years that helped you build up your credit. Canceling cards leaves you with less credit available to you and that affects your fica/fico score in a negative way thus messing up your credit history. Best to zero out your balance and leave cards alone or put 'em in the freezer in a massive block of ice and pretend you lost them! No more shoppin' 'til you droppin'!
Lyle said 2:11PM on 1-22-2009
it will take more than Obama to CHANGE what this country has become since the Reagan years, GREED has become a way-of-life
and is ingrained in our culture
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Stu said 2:26PM on 1-22-2009
I repeat - a solution for hackers.
Make the penalty so terrible that it's not worth the risk.
Let all nations classify the crime as TREASON This should give any judge or court the most effective weapon: EXECUTION.
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Master Shake said 2:40PM on 1-22-2009
Stu, if execution was effective, then there would be a lower murder rate in the US than in most other countries in the world (where executions have long since been abandoned.) The fact is that there is a much higher murder rate in the US than almost anywhere in the civilized world. You can not legislate morality or decency. It doesn't work that way. It would be nice if it did, but reality tells a different story.
Jeff said 2:50PM on 1-22-2009
I have worked in the security business for 14 years. In November 2008 I was laid off. Now I receive unemployment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via a Mastercard debit card. Does this mean my unemployment benifits are in danger of being stolen? Will the Commonwealth of Pennsylvannia send me a new card? How about it Pa? The people in charge of security of this information should become unemployed like me. I am looking for a new job and think I could do much better than this!
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Richard said 9:16AM on 1-23-2009
The really true sad delema is when you or anyone agrees to terms written up by these credit card companies, you very much do not understand fully what you are actually agreeing to . When a company tells you[ they reserve the right ] there is your answer to want they truly are interested in ,only their own company because you just agreed with them by signing the understandment clause of their terms . If people did truly know what they are agreeing to would you still sign on or not ? Read between the lines and begin to understand their position when it comes to loss of data ,they practically spell it out for you that they are not responsible for loss of anything concerning your account and again it goes back to what you agreed too. But this system of doing buisness today is really the major cause of these problems the responsiblity of errors is always put on the customers shoulders to bare and fix . It should be the other way around because you have intrusted them with your whole life in information [ cant understand why educated people dont see what they doing in these matters ] get to know what words mean that is your only true defense .
rc said 2:57PM on 1-22-2009
basically the government gave the banks and wall st. the mine and the customers and taxpayers as usual got the shaft! Uncle Sam is the biggest thief of all!
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JIM said 8:22AM on 1-23-2009
Keep in mind that we the citizens are Uncle Sam.