MasterCard, Visa Payment Processor Says Violation Occurred In Early March; 50,000 Cards At Risk

Earlier today, we wrote about how MasterCard and Visa had begun notifying banks about a possible data breach at a third-party company that processes credit card payments. Now more information has come out regarding when the breach occurred and how many people may be affected.

The payment processor has been identified as Atlanta-based Global Payments, which tells Consumerist in a statement that it determined card data “may have been accessed” in early March.

The company says it “immediately engaged external experts in information technology forensics and contacted federal law enforcement,” and “notified appropriate industry parties to allow them to minimize potential cardholder impact.”

Meanwhile, it’s being reported that approximately 50,000 card accounts may have been put at risk by the breach, though no one is saying whether or not any fraudulent transactions were attempted on the affected accounts.

Both MasterCard and Visa have tried to calm customers by stating that their respective customer databases were not hacked.

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