WHAS11 coverage

Statement from Barnes and Noble

Protect yourself from identity theft

Kentucky Attorney General

(WHAS11) - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey calls it “the single largest and most complex identify theft case ever charged in this country.”

TJ Maxx had already disclosed the breach of their customers’ data last year. 

Only now, however, is the U.S. Justice Department revealing the scope of the crime - more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers stolen from retailers like TJ Maxx,  Boston Market, Barnes and Noble, Sports Authority, Discount Shoe Warehouse and others.

“It’s going to keep happening,” says the Louisville Better Business Bureau’s Reanna Smith-Hamblin, “so you really need to start protecting yourself by checking your statements every time you can check them.  If you can check them online, check them online.”

But as you use the computer to check your accounts, make sure your computer is protected. 

Three years ago a WHAS11 news investigation warned of “wardriving,” hackers who roam neighborhoods looking for unprotected wireless signals.

At the time, Matt Witten an information security professional explained, “They can reconfigure their router, any other network devices they have, they go into any of their computers and do whatever they feel like.”

Like watching your every move online - including credit card and bank transactions.

“Wardriving” is how the government believes hackers broke into the retailers’ computers, installing “sniffer” software to capture the sensitive information.

Investigators say the hackers concealed the stolen account numbers on encrypted computer servers in Eastern Europe and the U.S., selling some online, cloning credit cards and “cashing out” tens of thousands of dollars at a time from ATM’s.

TJ Maxx says its breach happened in July 2005 and from mid-May 2006 to mid-January 2007, but there is no way of knowing if your credit card number is sitting on some criminal’s computer, waiting to be sold.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Barnes and Noble says they have just learned about the indictments.

“We regularly assess and enhance our security measures and want to assure our customers that it is safe to shop at Barnes & Noble.”

Meanwhile a spokesman for Master Card stressed to WHAS11’s Joe Arnold that the indictments are for crimes over a period of time—and not that 40 million credit card numbers were stolen yesterday.

MasterCard says stay vigilant, monitor accounts on a regular basis, and if you have any concerns, contact the financial institution that issued the credit card.