CUs and Banks Tally the Losses in Latest Data Breach

COVENTRY, R.I. – As many as 1,100 cardholders at local credit unions and banks are reporting incidents of fraud on their accounts due to the recently announced data breach at supermarket chain Stop & Shop. Police reported at least two credit unions were affected, with members at Coventry CU hit for around $10,000, so far. Citizens Bank appears to be the hardest hit, with more than $100,000 in fraudulent transactions on its cards, so far. Four California men were arrested Monday and charged with the a scam removing keypads from point-of-sale machines at Stop & Shop check-out lines and replacing them temporarily with skimmers that record card numbers and PINs. The information was used to make duplicate cards and withdrew $400 at a time from accounts. The four suspects were arrested while they were apparently trying to replace the POS keypad and in the Coventry Stop & Shop. Stop & Shop, which operates 385 supermarkets throughout the east coast, said the crooks succeeded in skimming POS machines in at least six of its stores in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The supermarket chain has since bolted down POS machine keypads in all of its stores to prevent similar schemes. There have been reports of similar crimes in Philadelphia, Richmond, Los Angeles and Miami, by suspects with similar descriptions as the ones arrested here, police said.