Another Credit Card Breach at a Major Retailer?

On the heels of Target’s holiday season fraud scandal, another major retailer has revealed that they may have been affected by a credit card security breach. Multiple sources in the banking industry say they are tracking a pattern of fraud on cards that were recently used at arts and crafts retailer, Michaels.

The Texas-based specialty retailer with more than 1,250 stores nationwide, issued the following statement:

“Michaels Stores, Inc. recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at Michaels, suggesting that the company may have experienced a data security attack. The company is working closely with federal law enforcement and is conducting an investigation with the help of third-party data security experts to establish the facts. Although the investigation is ongoing, based on the information the company has received and in light of the widely-reported criminal efforts to penetrate the data systems of U.S. retailers, Michaels believes it is appropriate to let its customers know a potential issue may have occurred.”

If Michaels did have some kind of breach involving payment cards, this wouldn’t be the first time. In May 2011, Michaels disclosed that crooks had physically tampered with some point of sale devices at store registers revealing compromised POS devices in stores across the country.

When security blogger Brian Krebs originally broke  the Target story,  his sources indicated there could be up to six more retailers affected by breaches who had yet to come forward. Some are speculating other victims include a major hotel chain and a popular chain of restaurants. Here is the full story. Time will tell, and I will keep you posted.