Data Breach Reported at East Bay Safeway: Report

Some Safeway shoppers have seen their bank accounts drained after using debit cards at two Northern California Safeway stores - in Castro Valley and Menlo Park. Security specialist Brian Krebs first reported the breach on his website, Krebs on Security.

Safeway spokesperson Brian Dowling told Krebs, “We have an excellent track record in this area. In fact, we inspect our store’s pin pads regularly and from time to time find a skimmer, but findings have been limited and small in scale. We immediately contact law enforcement and take steps to minimize customer impact.”

• Related: Data Breach Reported at Bay Area Restaurants

The breach came to light when the banking industry started tracking fraud. The common thread was that the victims had shopped at Safeway prior to having their funds drained at ATMs. Safeway carefully tracks transactions right down to checkout lanes, so the victims were tracked back to the credit card terminals that had been tampered with.

All of the fraud has occurred since September.

If you’ve visited Colorado, the data breach happened at stores in Arvada, Conifer, Denver, Englewood and Lakewood.

It’s a good idea to carefully monitor bank accounts and credit card statements on a regular basis. If you notice any fraud, report it to your card issuer immediately and file a police report.

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