Aldi Food Store Credit Card Skimming Hits New Organized Crime Note
When
a gang of thieves physically tampers with point-of-sale systems, the tampering
is usually a local operation. But that may be changing. Discount grocer Aldi
said October 1 it has found tampered payment-card readers in stores in 11
states, spread from the East coast to Illinois. The retailer said the tampering
was only in a limited number of its 1,100 U.S. stores, and all those stores
were clustered near 10 cities — but the stolen data is being cashed out
thousands of miles away. Part of what made the $70 billion global grocery chain
so successful could be playing a key role in making it a cyberthief target
today: The scarcity of store employees. The 10 areas hit with tampering were
Chicago; Indianapolis; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia (including stores in New
Jersey); Atlanta; Washington, D.C. (including stores in Virginia and Maryland);
Rochester, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; Raleigh, North Carolina; and
Charlotte, North Carolina. The retailer said that the skimming devices were
probably placed during June, July and August.