Crime Trackers March 11

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Posted 10:52 PM 3/11/2013 : Hackers target grocery store card readers

SIERRA VISTA - Residents in Southeastern Arizona are trying to recover after becoming victims of identity theft involving one of Arizona's grocery chains.

It happened last month at Bashas' Food Stores and Bashas' owned Food City and AJ's.

Now some of the compromised credit cards and debit cards are showing purchases on the east coast. "Jessica Mintz says, she began looking over her statement after she saw a posting on Facebook about the cyber attack.

"I wasn't expecting to find anything and then I saw a couple of charges for even amounts and I said I haven't been shopping in South Carolina."

Mike Halley was watching golf on a Sunday when his bank called him. "They asked me if I had been in North Carolina buying anything I said no I am here in Sierra Vista so they reversed the charge."
These are just two of the 100+ victims in the Sierra Vista area who've reported identity theft from grocery shopping.

The purchases ranged from $50.00 $7,000 in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia .
Corporal Scott Borgstadt of the Sierra Vista Police Department says, "We've also been able to determine it's gone international and we received information that credit card numbers have been used in Indonesia and Spain"

On February 5 Bashas' released a statement and posted it by the registers, saying they were victims of a highly sophisticated cyber attack and that they've added extra security to prevent future incidents.

Since then, new developments. Cpl. Borgstadt says, "I did hear from one of our detectives the fbi had made an arrest in New York"

Both Cochise County Sheriff's department and Sierra Vista police say they've been working with the FBI . However the FBI tells News 4 they won't confirm or deny they are investigating.
Bashas' as well as Sierra Vista police urge anyone who has shopped in these stores to check your credit card statements daily.

If there is unusual activity report it immediately to the credit card company or the bank and call police.

If you have any questions, Bashas' says you can call its Customer Service Department at 480 883-6131.

If You Detect Any Suspicious Activity on Your Credit or Debit Card

Promptly notify the financial institution or card company, as well as the company at which the fraudulent transaction took place. You also should report any fraudulent activity or any suspected incident of identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities, the state attorney general and/or Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

To file a complaint with the FTC, go to www.ftcgove/idtheft or call 1-877-ID Theft (877-438-4338). Complaints filed with the FTC will be added to the FTC's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse, which is a database made available to law enforcement agencies.

It is always a good idea to obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once every 12 months by calling toll-free 877-322-8228, visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, or by completing an Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348

You can print a copy of the request form at: www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/reuestformfinal.pdf

Or you can elect to purchase a copy of your credit report by contacting one of the three national credit reporting agencies:

Equifax
P.O. Box 74021
Atlanta, GA 30374
(800) 685-1111
www.equifax.com

Experian
P.O. Box 9532
Allen, TX 75013
(888) 397-3742
www.experian.com

TransUnion
P.O Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834
(800) 916-8800
www.transunion.com