1.16 million customers cards were exposed
The results of an internal investigation between Staples and law enforcement determined that about 119 Staples stores across the United States suffered a malware attack that led to data stolen payment card customers. The estimate is that a total of 1.16 million debit and credit cards have been compromised - including customer names, credit card numbers, expiration dates and verification code . Among the stores concerned, Staples has determined that 113 were vulnerable between August 10 and September 16, 2014, and both were vulnerable between July 20 and September 16, 2014. In addition, four stores in Manhattan, NY were exposed for almost six months - between April and September. A complete list of stores can be found in PDF format on the Staples website. Initially, it was reported that only stores in the northeastern United States were affected, but the list shows that the breach affected stores across the country.
What Staples offers customers affected?
As usual for big box retailers, affected customers were promised protection against identity theft ProtectMyID. A toll-free call center has been set up for anyone with questions to call. The hours for the call center are 9:00 to 9:00 p.m. ET Monday to Friday and 11:00 to 8:00 p.m. EST, Saturday and Sunday. In addition, Staples said that no customer will be held financially responsible for fraudulent charges made on their behalf as a result of this breach of security.
What can I deal with this violation Staples?
Although there is nothing you can really do to stop your information from being stolen, as it was previously exceeded, there are some proactive steps you can take to make sure all person that your information can not do much with it.
1. Watch for suspicious activity on your credit card statements. Because it took nearly two months for Staples to identify stores that were affected and at which specific time, criminals have had much time to obtain and use customer information. If you have not looked at your financial records recently, back to the period of time during the violation and carefully review all transactions during and after this period. Be sure to mention the fish fresh as soon as you catch them, because this is a great way to stop a thief in their tracks. In the future, it is a good idea to always carefully consider your statements if you do not already.
2. Consider applying for a new credit card. If you shopped at Staples times between April and September 2014, it may be prudent to apply for a new credit or debit card. When customer information is exposed in this manner, you can not be certain that you are safe, even if your card has not seen any suspicious activity. It might take some convincing to get a new card from your provider, but it will ensure that even if your information was stolen, it will be useless for any criminal who intends to use it.
3. Sign up for identity theft protection. Like so many retailers before her, Staples offered a protection service against the free identity theft to customers affected by the breach. ProtectMyID is the same service as Target offered customers a year ago when his security fiasco. At the time we wrote about why ProtectMyID might not be the best choice for people who are concerned about protecting their identity - and the same advice is true now. The best services to protect against identity theft offer credit monitoring report from all three credit bureaus, which is something ProtectMyID missing. It is important to know what is reported on the three offices because everything is related to each.
Learn more about identity theft and protection of our best services is the best choice for you.