Staff Writer
SCARBOROUGH — Hannaford officials are saying fewer than 2,000 cases of fraud have been reported in connection with the theft of data during its credit authorization transmission process.
According to a March 17 press release, Hannaford said they had contained a “data intrusion into its computer network that resulted in the theft of customer credit and debit card numbers. No personal information, such as names and addresses, was accessed or obtained.”
Carol Eleazer, vice president with Hannaford, said in a phone interview Friday that, on Feb. 27, the company began noticing some unusual credit card activity and suspected criminal involvement. An investigation was launched, and Eleazer said on March 10 the cause of the breach was identified and stopped.
An investigation with the Secret Service is ongoing, she said, but no charges have been filed yet. The company is also working with credit and debit card issuers to ensure customers are protected, they said.
But the impacts of the security breach appear to be wide-spread. Hannaford stores in New England and New York, Sweetbay stores in Florida and a series of independently-owned stores in the Northeast have been affected. (See the list of local stores affected near this article.)
The company is encouraging customers to carefully review financial statements and immediately contact the credit card company or issuing bank with any concerns.
“We also want people to be aware that no one from Hannaford will be calling requesting any personal or financial information,” added Eleazer. “What we’ve learned through some research is that sometimes when data breaches are announced, opportunistic criminals will try to pull a hoax and we certainly wouldn’t want any of our customers to have to endure that as well.”
Hannaford Bros., based in Scarborough, operates 165 stores under the their name and employs about 27,000 associations.
The consumer assistance line for Hannaford customers is (866) 591-4580.
Area stores impacted:
Ellis Family Market, Patten
Paradis Shop ‘n Save, Caribou
Paradis Shop ‘n Save, Houlton
Graves Shop ‘n Save, Presque Isle
Paradis Shop ‘n Save, Fort Kent
Paradis Shop ‘n Save, Madawaska.
