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TMCNet: Two area banks suffer debit card data breach

[March 16, 2009]

Two area banks suffer debit card data breach

(The Dominion Post in Morgantown (WV) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 16--Two area banks have notified their customers of a data breach that may affect their VISA debit cards. Those customers have received new debit cards.

Heartland Payment Systems, a payment processing service, suffered the data breach in 2008 and some VISA check card holders may have had their card numbers exposed to an unauthorized person.

Heartland learned of the breach in late January and began contacting those who may have been affected soon after.

Morgantown's locally owned banks -- Clear Mountain and Centra -- have both sent explanation letters and new VISA debit cards to customers.

John Fahey, senior vice president for Centra Bank, said they learned about the breach about three weeks ago.

He said they received a list of about 10,000 customers whose cards may have been affected. Bank officials decided they had three options.

"We could sit on our hands and roll the dice," Fahey said. "Customers would still be OK. They'd just need to watch their accounts closely. We could just replace cards that show fraudulent losses or -- the most expensive and labor-intensive -- we could replace them all. The last option is the best for the customers." Clint McCabe, director of marketing for Clear Mountain Bank, said his bank also received a list of VISA debit cards that may have been breached through Heartland.

"We immediately placed those cards on an internal watch list and began issuing new cards to those customers," McCabe said.

"Everybody that was on that list will get a new card," McCabe said. "Notices are going out with the cards that are re-issued. It does take some time to re-issue those cards." In the meantime, McCabe said Clear Mountain Bank had reported no losses and added that he was not aware of any unauthorized use of cards affecting Clear Mountain customers.

Adrienne Davis, vice president and marketing director at Centra, said replacing the affected cards was the best and safest route. She also advised customers to follow the directions on the letters accompanying their new cards.

Heartland Payment Systems set up a Web site, 2008Breach.com, which has information about the January breach. According to a message on the site from Heartland chairman and CEO Robert O. Carr, there is a federal investigation.

The payment processing service handles more than 250,000 merchants nationwide including gas stations, retail stores, restaurants and utility companies.

Heartland's site indicates that potentially exposed information includes card numbers, expiration dates and other data from the card's magnetic strip.

"The forensic investigation is still going on because we want to be thorough," said Jason Maloni, spokesperson for Heartland Payment Systems.

"They looked at the evidence and told us it had all the appearances of an international cyber crime." Maloni said no Social Security numbers, addresses, pin numbers, phone numbers or 3-digit security numbers on the back of cards were exposed.

"Without that, there's not much somebody can do with just a card number," he said, adding that Heartland Payment Systems hasn't seen any identity theft or fraud as a result of the breach.

To see more of The Dominion Post or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dominionpost.com/.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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