Wachovia Corp., some of whose debit card holders have been victimized by a data breach that happened several months ago, began sending notices and replacement cards to those customers recently because it began to see signs of fraud after months of monitoring the accounts, the bank says. Although Wachovia’s action made the breach public knowledge, observers say the bank is not likely to be the only financial institution whose debit cards have been compromised in this latest incident of leaked card data.
As has been the case with previous incidents, it’s unclear exactly when this breach occurred. It’s known that it happened months ago because Visa USA quietly issued a member alert about it in February. A Wachovia spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News the bank began monitoring transactions as soon as the Visa alert came out, but apparently nothing happened at first. “Very recently we began to see some fraudulent activity on the cards,” the spokesperson says. So last week, the bank sent a letter and replacement card in a single mailer to each of an unspecified number of customers. The spokesperson would not discuss the amount or nature of the fraud. Customers will not be liable for any losses on the old cards.
Visa would not comment about the incident beyond a prepared statement that reads in part, “Visa USA is examining a possible compromise at a U.S.-based ATM processor. Upon learning of the compromise, Visa quickly alerted the affected financial institutions to protect consumers through independent fraud monitoring and, if needed, reissuing cards.”...
