Dive Brief:
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Several banks have told cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs that there’s evidence of fraudulent activity traced to several Staples locations in the Northeast, including Pennsylvania, New York City, and New Jersey, suggesting a data breach.
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Framingham, MA-based Staples confirmed to Krebs that it is looking into “a potential issue” with the help of law enforcement.
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Stolen credit card information was used at grocery stores and big box stores, indicating that data from Staples point-of-sales systems may have been used to create counterfeit cards, according to Krebs on Security.
Dive Insight:
Here's an example of when "easy" is not something Staples wants to boast about. With this suspected fraud, reports of data breaches at retailers are now coming in fast and furiously, and are doing retailers no good as the holidays approach. That's because consumers, not surprisingly, are extremely gun-shy about shopping at stores where data has been compromised.