The numbers of fraud reports related to the Michaels Store breach continues to climb. Jack Moran reports:
Federal authorities investigating a major data breach at craft retailer Michaels are fast becoming aware of its impact on debit card holders in Oregon.
During the past week, local police agencies from Portland to Medford have fielded several hundred reports apparently related to the extensive fraud case.
Eugene and Springfield police combined have received approximately 150 such reports, while Beaverton police have heard from about 50 people whose bank accounts were targeted in the scheme. Roseburg police say they’re aware of at least 70 additional cases, while Medford police saw a handful of reports trickle in last week.
Source: The Register-Guard. In other coverage, the Oregon Community Credit Union reported that 1300 of its customers were impacted by the breach.
The criminals seem pretty well organized as they seem to be moving from area to area or staggering when they start to use the card numbers they acquired. Given that stores in 20 states were found to be compromised, it will be interesting to see what the finally tally is on this one, if we’re ever told. Certainly there are a number of banks and credit unions that have replaced a lot of cards, although in many cases, that may just be proactive.