News

Plot of debit-card compromise thickens

February 19, 2006

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: A spate of reports of different types of checking-account, debit-card and ATM thefts collected by local law enforcement and their West Coast counterparts have financial institutions and their customers on high alert for suspicious activities. The Secret Service in Seattle is investigating thefts involving a variety of methods to steal debit card information, including skimming devices at ATMs and gas pumps, database hacking and phishing for information with unsolicited e-mail.

In the latest database hacking case, debit card information for as many as 200,000 OfficeMax customers might have been compromised, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week. The breach prompted the West Coast's largest banks, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual, to reissue debit cards to customers involved.