Home Depot Credit Card Breach! Bigger Than Target? [UPDATE]

[1492]

This according to KrebsOnSecurity.com who just today reported that banks and law enforcement are actively investigating a breach of customer credit card records, similar to the Target breach earlier this year. Though the number of U.S./Canadian stores involved may be significantly higher.



Source: KrebsOnSecurity.com



It also appears to be perpetrated by the same hacker group which is reportedly selling the hacked credit card data on the internet. Home Depot has not yet made an official statement as the investigation is ongoing.

See article for details Credit Card Breach at Home Depot.



★UPDATE!★ Home Depot Offering FREE Credit Protection/ID Theft Insurance

[mmiille]

My credit card info was hacked. I get texts when my card is used. I received a text about three weeks ago that my card was used about 25 miles from where we were at a home depot. About 150 miles from our home address. It said I charged $200, then $1 three times. I called the company and got a new card in a week. Still unsure how they got my number, but I did charge something on line at home depot last spring. It wasn't a home depot card. My wife and I each carry a different card just in case this happens.

[Gene_Ginny]

paulcardoza wrote:
It takes me all of 30sec to check activity on my CC every day or two. .......

I set my CC alerts to send a text to my cell phone when the card is used. I just have to remember to turn on the cell phone.

[1492]

Went to change my last debit card today, my other banks did so automatically due to all these credit breaches. Luckily, this bank can issue new debit cards in the branch itself. So far, have had no unauthorized transactions. But just being safe, rather than sorry.

In talking with the bank rep, he mentioned that the level of fraudulent transactions they're seeing has risen to hundreds of millions of dollars. He also said that each day, they review security footage of their bank ATMs, and required to physically check each machine so that no hacker hardware was installed while they were closed. I must look pretty funny on security cams, because I also completely check the keyboard for overlays, and jiggle the card readers of any ATM I use, before inserting my debit card. :B

[Bird_Freak]

We just had to replace dw's debit card for this reason so it is not just HD cards.

[paulcardoza]

It takes me all of 30sec to check activity on my CC every day or two. My card offers total protection against fraudulent charges. I feel a heck of a lot safer walking around with the CC in my pocket, as opposed to a few hundred dollars in cash.

My debit card is used for ATM cash withdrawals only, since while it's protected, it's not as immediate as the CC........

[FlatBroke]

Visa is sending out new cards. I opened my Chase ap and thy already transferred my info to the new card which I haven't received.

[Duck]

Article in the paper yesterday said fraudulent charges are now showing up. I had only two purchases during the time period and canceled the card number and had it replaced.
Don

[fj12ryder]

Hold Security were the ones who wouldn't tell anyone who was compromised without being paid first. Such a deal. To me that made the whole thing stink to high heaven. "Yeah, we found a huge breach in security. Now if you pay us enough money we'll tell you all about it."

Sounds like ransomware to me.

[bwanshoom]

Krebs was not the one claiming there were a billion passwords, he was reporting what another security company (Hold Security) stated. He did vouch for the veracity of that company, though.

[1492]

Yes, they were also the first to report most of the credit breaches at other retailers.

The password breaches are still being investigated. But the majority appears to involve email account credentials, or passwords for website access that have been harvested over time. And may not actually represent as much of a threat as they include accounts no longer active, or invalid passwords that have since been changed by the end user.

[fj12ryder]

Is KrebsOnSecurity the same people that talked about the huge number (billions?) of ID/Passwords stolen a month or so ago, that has since been completely ignored? 🙂

[1492]

Once again, KrebsOnSecurity.com was right! The Home Depot customer credit breach was bigger than Target's. 😞

[1492]

How To Get FREE Credit Monitoring And Protection From Home Depot

If you believe that you may have used your credit or debit card at an affected Home Depot stores in U.S. and Canada from April 8, 2014 to present, then you can get FREE credit monitoring/protection service:

If you need identity repair assistance during the next 12 months, starting on September 8, 2014, the team at AllClear ID is ready and standing by to assist you. There is no action required on your part at this time. If a problem arises, simply call 1-855-252-0908 and a dedicated investigator will do the work to recover financial losses, restore your credit, and make sure your identity is returned to its proper condition.

For additional protection, affected U.S. customers may enroll in the AllClear PRO service and affected Canadian customers may enroll in the Equifax Premier service at no cost to them at any time during the next 12 months. These services are available through September 8, 2015, and include credit monitoring and an identity theft insurance policy.

Just go to REQUEST YOUR FREE IDENTITY PROTECTION.

[bwanshoom]

1775 wrote:
What is interesting is that Home Depot has the capability to take the "chip" cards that will be mandated soon and are supposed to stop a lot of the security problems of credit card use in stores, but their system does not work. Put in a chip card and nothing happens and it has to be swiped. Even now after this breach they have not implemented the system that they already have the equipment for in their stores.

Their rollout of chip & pin support isn't complete, but will be by the end of this year: Press release