Tom Incantalupo reports that Long Island-based Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace is notifying customers of three of its stores that hackers may have acquired payment card numbers and expiration dates – but not cardholder names, personal identification numbers, security codes, customer addresses or any other personal information. The retailer learned of the breach when they were contacted by a bank on February 24. Customers who used their cards between late January and the end of February may be impacted.
Read more on Newsday.
The notice on Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace website, linked as an “URGENT BULLETIN” from their homepage, seems to omit crucial details of a breach notification such as when the critical period is and what types of data were accessed or acquired. The Newsday report actually contains more details than the website notice:
Dear Uncle Giuseppe’s Customer:
Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace recently learned that our credit card database systems affecting our East Meadow, Port Washington and Smithtown, New York locations were breached by persons from outside of the United States. Our Port Jefferson and Massapequa, New York locations were not affected. Within 18 hours of the breach being brought to our attention and with assistance from the United States Secret Service, we have made necessary security enhancements to prevent any further data breaches. We have also taken every necessary measure to ensure that all banking institutions are aware of the situation and are addressing this issue. We assure you that no customer impacted by this breach will be responsible for any unauthorized transactions.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this incident may have caused you. In this technological age, it appears that companies of all sizes are being targeted by hackers and criminals, and we encourage everyone to regularly check their bank statements to be sure that they were not affected by this breach. As our loyal customers, you are part of our family and we only want the best for you. We feel it is important that you have this information and know that we have ensured your future shopping experiences will be secure and that we will assist you in any way if you were affected by this incident.
We have set up a customer service line to answer any and all inquiries you may have. If you have any questions or have been affected by this incident, please call Heather Hyman at 516-420-0126 ext. 111 between the hours of 9:00AM to 5:00PM Monday through Friday or contact her via email at [email protected]. We will do everything we can to resolve issues or concerns you may have.
Your trust is very important to us and we will continue to take every precaution to ensure your financial security while you shop at Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, now and in the future. We know that you have many shopping choices and we greatly appreciate your continued loyalty.
With our sincere apologies and commitment to you, our customer,
Carl DelPrete
Philip DelPrete
Thomas BarresiIn addition, to guard against possible scams, always be cautious about sharing personal information, such as Social Security numbers, passwords, user IDs and financial account information.
Here are some tips that will help protect you:
– Never share information with anyone over the phone, email or text, even if they claim to be someone you know or do business with. Instead, ask for a call back number.
– Delete texts immediately from numbers or names you don’t recognize.
– Be wary of emails that ask for money or send you to suspicious websites. Don’t click links within emails you don’t recognize.