Michaels says 90 PIN pads tampered with

IRVING, Texas (AP) - May 13, 2011 (WPVI) -- Michaels Stores Inc. says the PIN pads at stores in 20 states were tampered with, potentially exposing customer's credit and debit card information.

The Irving, Texas-based arts and crafts supplier said earlier this month that the tampering appeared to have happened in its Chicago-area stores. Michael's said Wednesday that the problem affected checkout line terminals at stores in Illinois, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Michaels said it has identified roughly 90 PIN pads in its 964 U.S. stores that showed signs of tampering. The company disabled and quarantined suspicious PIN pads and removed another 7,200 as a precautionary measure. Michaels is also screening all PIN pads in its Canadian stores

Michael found out about the tampering after banking and law enforcement officials contacted the company following reports of fraudulent transactions by customers. The company is working with payment card brands and issuers to identify the fraud. It is also assisting federal and state law enforcement authorities with their investigation.

Michaels urges customers to check their accounts for unauthorized transactions. Customers whose accounts were compromised should contact their card issuer directly.

You can get a complete list of the stores locations where tampered PIN pads have been detected is at www.michaels.com.

In a statement from Michaels, the company says:

" Out of an abundance of caution, Michaels has removed approximately 7,200 PIN pads comparable to the identified tampered PIN pads from its US stores. The company has commenced replacing these PIN pads in all US stores and expects the replacement to be completed within the next 15 days. Until the new upgraded PIN pads are installed, customers may have their credit and signature debit transactions processed on the store register. As an additional precaution, Michaels is screening all PIN pads in Canadian stores. Michaels is working closely with payment card brands and issuers to identify the accounts that may have been compromised, so issuers can employ enhanced fraud security measures immediately on potentially impacted accounts. In addition, the company is assisting federal and state law enforcement authorities with their investigation. "

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