Did you get an unexpected bank card or credit card in the mail lately? If not, and you do get one unexpectedly in the next few weeks...here is why. In what now appears to be a widening incident, Bank of America, MasterCard and Visa all announced this week that they have been informed of a potential security breach at a major U.S.-based retailer.
The name of the retailer has not officially been released. But, a spokesperson for Regions Financial Corp. confirmed that the bank reissued debit cards in late January after being informed by credit card processor CardSystems Inc. in November that some customer accounts were compromised in a security breach at....wait for it.....Wal-Mart and Sam's Club Stores.
Regions Financial has reissued 100,000 debit cards on Jan. 23 after the company was told that its customer information could have been exposed in a breach at the retail giant.
Meanwhile, officials at Bank of America confirmed last week that the company was also forced to reissue an undisclosed number of credit cards after a third-party company leaked the information. Bank of America was forced to shut down "numerous" debit cards as a precautionary measure against potential fraud. The bank has issued letters to all of the affected customers informing them that their cards were cancelled and to be aware of the threat of criminal activity on their accounts.
MasterCard International is also aware of a potential security breach at a U.S.-based retailer. The company notified banks that issue MasterCard cards to monitor for any suspicious account activity and take the necessary steps to protect cardholders, according to the statement.
Both Bank of America and Mastercard refused to name the retailer involved. We are in the early days of this scandal, so stay tuned for more info.
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