Stop That Card!

[MA-Caver]

Credit card data stolen from supermarket chain
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080317/us_nm/usa_retailer_breach_dc
Mon Mar 17, 7:36 PM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - A computer hacker stole thousands of credit card numbers after breaching security at two U.S. grocery store chains owned by Belgium-based Delhaize Group SA, the companies said on Monday.
Nearly 2,000 cases of fraud have been linked to the breach, but no personal information such as names or addresses was accessed when the hacker broke into the Hannaford Bros. stores in Massachusetts, New England and New York, and Sweetbay customers in Florida, Hannaford said in a statement.
Boston's WBZ radio said 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen. Company officials were not immediately available to confirm the number of stolen card numbers.
Hannaford, headquartered in Scarborough, Maine, said it became aware of unusual credit card activity on February 27 and began an investigation. It said the data was illegally accessed during the credit card authorization process.

This is great isn't it? For one thing they don't say WHICH type (Visa, Green Dot, Master Card) of card numbers have been stolen. So you're screwed either way getting a Visa cash card (like I did with my tax return) or whatever. Knowing what store, type of card does help prevent consumers from buying that specific card or using that bank til they clear it up. But this awful lack of security on their part.
But this line makes me feel SO much better...

"We sincerely regret any concern or inconvenience this has caused," Hodge said in a statement. "We have taken aggressive steps to augment our network security capabilities."

Wow, you guys just NOW thought to do that! Gee.

How would a guy do that? Did he circumvent the firewall during the authorization process or what?

 

[terryl965]

What can one do, I had my idenity stolen 6 years ago and I am still fighting it. Once the cycle start it cannot be stopped. That is what I have been told by the authorities.

 

[jks9199]

This is great isn't it? For one thing they don't say WHICH type (Visa, Green Dot, Master Card) of card numbers have been stolen. So you're screwed either way getting a Visa cash card (like I did with my tax return) or whatever. Knowing what store, type of card does help prevent consumers from buying that specific card or using that bank til they clear it up. But this awful lack of security on their part.
But this line makes me feel SO much better...

Wow, you guys just NOW thought to do that! Gee.

How would a guy do that? Did he circumvent the firewall during the authorization process or what?

I don't believe, based on the article, that it was one specific card type. Instead, it sounds like the hackers penetrated into the transaction records, and acquired the card numbers from numerous transactions. Some of those numbers have since been used, probably in fraudulent on-line purchases, though it is possible that they counterfeited cards.

Unfortunately, as terryl965 said, once identity fraud starts, it takes years and years to stop it. If you catch it early enough, it's sometimes possible to stop it short, especially if the only damage was in financial records... You want serious chaos, consider what can happen when someone falsely uses your SSN, getting a paycheck and paying into the federal tax system, or even worse -- commits crimes and your name & SSN get linked to them. I've dealt with people who got notified by the IRS about owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in back taxes for jobs they never worked, in states they never lived in, and others who have gotten to the point of carrying letters from detectives explaining that they are the victim of identity theft, and ARE NOT the person wanted in a given case... (And, no, a letter doesn't always help -- but it may shorten the time needed for straightening out an arrest in a case like that. And it's NOT a false arrest, either.) HERE is the FTC's page on identity theft.

 

[MA-Caver]

So there must be a way to stop these crimes. If not now then sometime in the future somehow? I'm sure there are ideas bouncing around out there on how to stop these criminals from ruining our lives in ways that past criminals never imagined.
It's almost as personal as a rape.