May 24, 2010
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News: Wal-Mart Customers Victim Of CC Theft
Residents in Greenville, South Carolina were the latest victims of a cleaver credit card theft ring. It appears nearly all of a group of shoppers who recently visited the Wal-Mart store in Greenville have fallen victims where thieves managed to gain access to the cardholders' debit or credit card numbers and personal identification numbers (PIN). Although nearly all of the victims had used their cards to pay for merchandise, there were some who had not visited the Wal-Mart adding mystery to mystery. The authorities have yet to uncover how the thieves were able to gain access to the debit and credit card numbers, but have said that the incidents spans across the city and involves several different criminal activities including withdrawing cash from bank accounts at automatic teller machines (ATM) in states outside South Carolina.
Lt. Shea Smith of the Greenville Police Department said that Wal-Mart contacted them asking for a meeting to discuss the credit card thefts. Wal-Mart was clear in letting the police department know that the retail giant is ready to work with the police in any way necessary to assist in the pursuit and capture of the credit card thieves. Lt. Smith said that in no way is Wal-Mart to blame for the theft nor does the police department believe that the retailer had any involvement. At this point, the only connection is that the victims had shopped at Wal-Mart.
A spokesperson for Wal-Mart, Dan Fogleman released a statement to Greenville's Channel 4 News saying that the investigation confirms that not all the stolen debit and credit card numbers were used at Wal-Mart. However, to error on the side of caution, the retailer sent a team of investigators to personally inspect each card machine as well as conducted a thorough system analysis. Fogleman said the system check confirmed that the “security” of the store's ATM and card payment system is intact. The authorities have said that tracking down the thieves will be very difficult because they are most likely out of the country.