130 million credit card numbers stolen

[Tilted]

130 million credit card numbers stolen in identity theft scheme

Arrest in Epic Cyber Swindle - WSJ.com

A 28-year-old American, believed by prosecutors to be one of the nation's cybercrime kingpins, was indicted Monday along with two Russian accomplices on charges that they carried out the largest hacking and identity-theft caper in U.S. history.

Federal prosecutors alleged the three masterminded a global scheme to steal data from more than 130 million credit and debit cards by hacking into the computer systems of five major companies, including Hannaford Bros. supermarkets, 7-Eleven and Heartland Payment Systems Inc., a credit-card processing company.

The indictment in federal district court in New Jersey marks the latest and largest in at least five years of crime that has brought its alleged orchestrator, Albert Gonzalez of Miami, in and out of federal grasp. Detained in 2003, Mr. Gonzalez was briefly an informant to the Secret Service before he allegedly returned to commit even bolder crimes.

What Consumers Should Know About the Breach - WSJ.com

 

[Beta84]

could explain why I magically received a new card a little bit back with no explanation except "potential security breach" :shrug:

 

[ProfMoneyWise]

Identity theft of some kind happens every 3.5 seconds. Credit cards are but one source.

You must monitor all accounts in your name (financial, medical, etc). Anything out there with your name on it must be watched carefully.

www.annualcreditreport.com is the site where you obtain your free (for real at this site) credit report from TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Obtain one from each once a year (space them out every four months) and monitor, monitor, monitor.

Medical id theft is growing as well. These accounts, sites, must be monitored closely also.

A friend of mine jokes, "I would not be so paranoid if everyone were not out to get me." Use this mindset when it comes to identification theft.