Data breach at Econofoods in Marquette

Tadych’s Econofoods issued the following statement on Friday about the possible compromising of credit and debit cards:

Marquette, MI – Today February 21, 2014, Tadych’s Econofoods in Marquette, MI announced between January 8, 2014 and February 17, 2014 that various customers’ credit card and/or debit card information may have been compromised and obtained by an unauthorized person or criminal network.

Individual card numbers and expiration dates may have been accessed – but not the cardholder’s name, address, social security number or any other identifying information.

When notified of the situation Tadych’s Econofoods immediately took action.

The threat was contained and security upgrades were put into place immediately. The local authorities have been contacted, as well as area banks, credit unions and credit card companies.

Only Tadych’s Econofoods in Marquette, MI was compromised. The remaining five Tadych’s Econofoods stores were not affected by this security breach.

“On behalf of the Tadych family and our valuable employees, I want to sincerely apologize to our customers affected by this unfortunate incident,” said Mike Tadych, Tadych’s Econofoods President. “Technology is instrumental in providing our customers with a positive shopping experience. We continually strive to make sure our security measures are compliant. Upon discovery, we immediately deployed resources to contain the breach. Customers should feel safe shopping at our store.”

“Our customers choose to shop with us for many reasons. Trust being one of them. We have worked hard to earn that trust and will continue to do so by maintaining the security of our payment systems. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Questions can be directed to: Zach Quinnell – Store Manager

Tadych’s Econofoods

1401 O’Dovero Drive

Marquette, MI 49855

906-226-3500

877-295-4558

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. How do I know if my card was compromised? If you used your card at our Marquette store, between January 8, 2014 and February 17, 2014, your card could have been accessed.  We have been working with our payment processor to provide all potentially affected card numbers to the credit card companies so that they may send alerts to the card issuing banks.  Those banks will then be able to take steps to protect their cardholders, such as adding enhanced transaction monitoring or reissuing a new card if these measures have not been taken already.  Many banks have already taken these steps.

2. What personal information may have been affected?

The only data accessed were card numbers and expiration dates—the data did not include cardholder names, addresses, social security numbers or other identifying information.

3. Is it safe to use my card at Tadych’s Econofoods? Yes, the issue has been identified and contained.  We have upgraded our security.  You may continue to use your credit and debit cards at our stores.  It is important to keep in mind that there is no such thing as perfect security and no card processing environment is guaranteed to be 100 percent safe, but you can be assured that we have acted to prevent this issue going forward.

4. Can I still experience fraud on my card even though the issue is contained? Even though we contained the issue on February 17th, if you used your card between January 8, 2014 and February 16, 2014, at our Marquette store, your card could have been accessed.  If your card was reissued and then you used between the above dates, your new card could have been accessed.  So even though we contained the issue going forward, any card that was previously accessed and not replaced since containment of the issue on February 17th could still experience fraud.  Groups who steal credit cards from merchants will often wait and then sell the stolen credit cards in batches over time.

Be sure to monitor your account or proactively contact the bank, credit union, or other financial institution that issued your card.  (The phone number to call is usually on the back of the card).  We are continuing to work with our payment processor to provide all cards involved to the credit card companies so that they can issue alerts to the issuing banks.  Those issuing banks can apply enhanced monitoring techniques or cancel and reissue the cards to protect their cardholders if they have not already done so.  We are also working with law enforcement to apprehend those responsible.  Federal law may limit your liability for unauthorized charges.  You can obtain more information about this from the FTC’s Consumer Protection website.

5. Will Tadych’s Econofoods or my financial institution ever call me and ask for personal information? We are aware of reports that scammers have attempted to take advantage of this situation by contacting people who may shop at Tadych’s Econofoods and requesting personal information (such as Social Security numbers, addresses, ccv codes or credit card numbers) under the guise of investigating this incident.

Tadych’s Econofoods will never call, e-mail, or text you to obtain such sensitive personal information, nor do we believe that any financial institution or law enforcement agency would either.  Please immediately report any such attempts to your local police department.

6. I have experienced fraud on my credit card. What do I do? Immediately notify the company that issued your credit or debit card to let them know of any unauthorized charges.  The number to call is usually on the back of the card.  Federal law may limit your liability for unauthorized charges.  You can obtain more information about this from the FTC’s Consumer Protection website or www.consumer.ftc.gov.

7. Will someone steal my identity? Stolen credit card information is generally used to make fraudulent charges, not for true identity theft.  Customers should inspect their credit card statement regularly and if customers suspect their cards may have been compromised, they should immediately contact their financial institution.  We also recommend that you remain vigilant even if you do not find an issue at this time and that you monitor your credit reports.  You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, directly from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. To order your annual free report please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228.