Please read and take the time to check your bank accounts and credit card transactions. This is clearly a wide-spread issue. Look back as far as December of 2013. We have a couple reported to our department so far. ______________________________________________________________________ Fairmont, Minn. - The Fairmont Police Department has received reports involving over 200 different credit & debit cards that have been used to make fraudulent purchases since early last week. Earlier today members of the Fairmont Police Department and Martin County Sheriff’s Office met with area bankers to discuss the ongoing fraudulent activity which increased significantly late last week. Most area banks have had some customer’s credit/debit cards fall victim to unauthorized charges against their accounts. The fraudulent charges have been made on line and at stores in at least thirteen states; AZ, CT, FL, GA, IN, IL, MA, MI, MD, NY, SC, TX, VA. The investigation has identified a common point of purchase as El Agave, a local restaurant, located in Fairmont, MN. The cardholders had all made purchases at El Agave over the past several months dating as far back as December 2013. It is suspected that an internet hack took place which allowed an outside entity to install malware software to track, capture, and transmit credit information legitimately collected by the business to make payments. Once this credit card information is stolen, it’s common for the hacker 6503to sell the card data on internet black market sites or forums that cater to such activity. El Agave was unaware of the hack prior to being contacted by law enforcement and have cooperated fully with the investigation. They stated they saw no warning signs on their systems a breach had taken place. The investigation to date has shown that El Agave’s was the victim of a computer hack against their point of sale computer system. There has been no evidence showing any employee at El Agave took any part. They have taken immediate steps on a new system, to prevent further unauthorized data collection from their computers. The Fairmont Police Department is being assisted by the U.S. Secret Service. The investigation into this broad reaching credit card fraud is expected to take several weeks to complete. The public is encouraged to review their credit & debit card history for unauthorized charges against their account. If unauthorized purchases are found please contact your credit card company or local bank to report the fraud. If a person has used their credit card at El Agave since November 2013 they are encouraged to contact their bank to see what preventative measures should be taken if any. Citizens are also encouraged to read how to protect and monitor their credit card accounts. Here are a few recommended websites: How to avoid fraud https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0060-10-ways-avoid-fraud What to do if credit card is stolen consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0213-lost-or-stolen-credit-atm-and-debit-cards
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 13:02:42 +0000
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