Levi Pullkinen reports: A Seattle grand jury has indicted a Maryland man accused of hacking into the credit card systems of several Seattle businesses and using stolen funds to fuel his heroin addiction. Currently in inpatient treatment for drug addition, 20-year-old Christopher A. Schroebel is facing federal hacking charges related to a string of high-tech…
Category: Business Sector
(update) Michaels Stores Still PINned beneath Payment Card Skimming Lawsuit
Ah, I missed a ruling. Thankfully, Brendon Tavelli didn’t. He writes: In May 2011, Michaels Stores reported that “skimmers” using modified PIN pad devices in eighty Michaels stores across twenty states had gained unauthorized access to customers’ debit and credit card information. Not a pretty picture for Michaels. Lawsuits soon splattered on the specialty arts…
How do you define “finite and very small:” Peoples Gas/North Shore Gas disclose breach
Steve Daniels reports: Peoples Gas and sister utility North Shore Gas have notified an undisclosed number of customers of the possible theft and potential use of personal information about them by a contract worker. The natural gas utilities, which serve nearly 1 million customers in the city of Chicago and many northern suburbs, said in…
Update to Restaurant Depot/Jetro breach
The recent Restaurant Depot/Jetro breach that I reported on Dec. 7 provides a timely example of the issue of unreimbursed harm that consumers grapple with on a daily basis. As I continue to follow media coverage on that breach, it is clear that not only is there financial impact of this breach (the hacked card numbers…
Former RadioShack worker pleads guilty to using customer’s info for identity theft
Dianna Hunt reports: A former RadioShack customer service representative pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to stealing customers’ personal information while trying to resolve their problems. Youlanda Rochelle Wright used the information to file a false income tax return in a client’s name to get a refund of $3,654, according to court records. Wright entered…
eBay merchant exposes hundreds of Aussies
Ben Grubb reports: Beware when shopping online this holiday season as at least one eBay merchant has been found to have exposed the personal information of hundreds of Australians on the internet. Detailed information about a particular eBay seller’s customer transactions – including their phone numbers, postal addresses, email addresses and what a customer purchased…