Business & Tech

Schnucks Breach: What to Do When Your Card's Been Compromised

Whether you shopped at Schnucks and discovered your card information was stolen or not, here's some tips to tackle identity theft in this case and others.

It doesn't matter if you shopped at Schnucks during the breach period: Identity theft can happen anytime, anywhere.

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That's what Kris Schmidt, assistant special agent of the Secret Service's St. Louis office, is emphasizing. Schmidt told Patch the breach into Schnucks' server that was discovered last month is an example of how information can be stolen on a very large scale.

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"Nobody really knows if it's safe to use your card or not until there's a breach," Schmidt said. 

As Patch previously reported, the cyberattack affected customers' debit and credit card numbers used at the grocery chain between December 2012 and March 29 of this year. A KMOV report shared that 2.4 million cards used at 79 of the store's 100 locations are at risk of theft from the breach. Fifty-eight of the 79 stores are in the St. Louis area, the report added.

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"If you shopped there during that time, be vigilant about checking your account," Schmidt said. "If it's a big concern, be proactive and have a new card issued."

Schmidt added that if a cardholder detects suspicious activity on their account, to immediately contact the issuing bank and card provider. 

"It never hurts to make a police report in general, but there's really nothing that a police department or agencies can do unless actual fraud is committed there in that jurisdiction," Schmidt told Patch.

She also said that consumers may not see a fraudulent charge on their card until six months or more from the breach. The numbers stolen in the Schnucks case are on a list to be sold to the "bad guys," but may not be used for several months or more.

"If you go ahead and get a new card issued, then the bad guys can't use your number to commit fraud," Schmidt said.

READ MORE: Secret Service Tips For Responding To Identity Theft Cases

RELATED CONTENT: 

  • ID Theft Cases Tied To Schnucks: Should You Be Concerned?
  • Schnucks: No Source Determined In ID Theft Problem
  • Schnucks Says Card Problem Is Due To Cyberattack
  • Schnucks Will Post List Of Stores Hit By Cyberattack


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