Data lost on 650,000 credit card holders »
Posted By STONERS 8 months, 4 weeks ago in Science & TechnologyPersonal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing.
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STONERS8 months, 4 weeks ago
"GE Money, which handles credit card operations for Penney and many other retailers, said Thursday night that the missing information includes Social Security numbers for about 150,000 people."
"The information was on a backup computer tape that was discovered missing last October. It was being stored at a warehouse run by Iron Mountain Inc., a data storage company, and was never checked out but can't be found either, said Richard C. Jones, a spokesman for GE Money, part of General Electric Capital Corp."
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STONERS8 months, 4 weeks ago
"Jones said there was "no indication of theft or anything of that sort," and no evidence of fraudulent activity on the accounts involved."
"Iron Mountain spokesman Dan O'Neill said it would take specialized skills for someone to glean the personal data from the tape. He said the company regretted losing the tape, "but because of the volume of information we handle and the fact people are involved, we have occasionally made mistakes."
WTF!!!
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marshx8 months, 4 weeks ago
"it would take specialized skills for someone to glean the personal data from the take"
Who's more specialized than a thief? they've proved many times that authorities are always playing catch up, what's more, its usually people who work/have worked within the industry.
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TheRealizer8 months, 4 weeks ago
Does this actually surprise anyone? Hell your credit report, SS # etc. is essencially an open book.
Chances are your credit card company(s) are out sourcing your info to India or Bangladesh or some other third world hell hole. I had an I D theft a couple years ago, some of the reps I talked to could not speak even second grade english.
I wish it was possible to live without all that info out in the public domain...
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TalSiach8 months, 4 weeks ago
after what happened with ebay, now this.... what will be the end.
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chevydog8 months, 4 weeks ago
So how will this printed letter look and sound any different than the standard e-mail scam of "we need to validate your data"? Why would people pay any attention to it?
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Charlson8 months, 4 weeks ago
"It took GE Money two months to reconstruct the missing tape and identify the people whose information was lost. Since December, the company has been notifying consumers in batches of several thousand and telling them to phone a call center set up to deal with the breach. The notification is expected to be completed next week."
"The Penney name didn't appear on the envelope Rich received, and she thought it was a credit solicitation when she saw the GE Money return address."
"I think the average consumer has thrown away that GE Money letter because they don't know it's about J.C. Penney," Rich said. "Not everybody opens junk mail."
"Rich said she canceled her Penney card immediately."
How many customers has JC Penney lost in this matter?
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ReasonableMind8 months, 4 weeks ago
Most large companies use tape backups. It's a great way to provide disaster recovery. As long as your Tape Storage facility/Protection company doesn't let things like this happen.
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dandt16128 months, 4 weeks ago
This seems to happen quite often these days. Who's minding the store of information?
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daducha8 months, 4 weeks ago
Has anyone there heard the word BACKUP? And even with backups, the info could already be in dangerous hands.
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getreal18 months, 4 weeks ago
My remedy is to pay in cash. Since I can't afford the high cost of living any way, there is never enough to keep in the bank. If I put it in the bank the bank ends up with too much of it in their so called service charges. You just can't trust the easy life style without loosing something.
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ReasonableMind8 months, 4 weeks ago
I think this type of thing happens because of the technology we have today. But, this wasn't a hacker getting through a computer system. This is someone stealing a backup tape. Real questions is, how did Iron Mountain's security allow this to happen?
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jnikkola8 months, 4 weeks ago
As a 25-year veteran loan officer, I can tell you: IT IS NOT IN ANY CONSUMER'S BEST INTEREST TO HAVE GE SERVICING ONE OF YOUR ACCOUNTS. They also do the servicing for Macy's accounts, as well as Penneys. They have been known to "sit on" on payment checks until past the grace period in order to charge a late fee of up to $29. They have no respect for customers because you are not their customer -- you're just a debtor to them. It's outrageous they've now lost all these customers' files. Address your complaints to the CEO's of Penney's and Macy's -- then close those accounts.
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justme19668 months, 3 weeks ago
I just received my letter today that my info was on that tape. It was for a Lowes account. So I wonder if my jc penney accout is affected too??
I don't understand why they don't offer to close that account and issue a new one, but instead they tell you how to deal with identity theft and watch your credit report for 12-24 months.. OH, they also said in no way was it lowes fault. Well, no I don't blame lowes for the loss, but lowes should look for another banks!
Guess what people, when this REAL ID crap is instituted and your birth certificat, SSN and drivers license will be in one place along with your picture, address this will become an epidemic. People do not realize what this act does, and it only takes one person, to steal it. Missouri uses independent contractors to run the dmv offices, this scares the hell out of me.
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iamsorry5 months ago
Most large companies use tape backups. It's a great way to provide disaster recovery. As long as your Tape Storage facility/Protection company doesn't let things like this happen. 1 - this site states the same http://yourcoolcreditcard.com
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