Debit-Card Heist Lasted Months [telecom]

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Debit-Card Heist Lasted Months

By ANN ZIMMERMAN MAY 14, 2011

Thieves tampered with debit-card processing equipment at Michaels arts-and-crafts stores as early as Feb. 8, nearly three months before customers who had used their bank cards at the chain first reported that their bank accounts had been looted, the retailer said.

WSJ's Ann Zimmerman reports Michaels arts and crafts stores are warning customers across the country that their credit card information may have been obtained by hackers. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

The company began removing the compromised equipment, which it found at 80 stores in 20 states, on May 6. It says that fewer than 100 customers have reported fraudulent transactions.

Michaels Stores is installing tamper-proof card-processing equipment. Above, a customer shopped Wednesday at a Santa Clarita, Calif., Michaels.

Earlier in the week, Michaels Stores Inc. of Irving, Texas, reported that crooks had subverted its equipment and collected customers' debit-card data, including personal identification numbers. The gang created duplicate cards and, using the stolen PINs, withdrew cash from victims' bank accounts, in some cases more than once.

The company said that it uncovered almost 90 improperly altered debit-card processing devices. The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the incident.

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