Last summer, some of the country’s largest retailers reached a settlment with Visa and MasterCard that was supposed to put to rest qualms the businesses had with the credit card companies’ alleged practice of fee-fixing. The $7.2 billion settlement didn’t sit well with some, including Target and Macy’s, prompting a group of retailers to file a new lawsuit this week, effectively rejecting that previous agreement. [More]
Target, Macy’s Reject Fee-Fixing Settlement With Credit Card Companies & File Fresh Lawsuit
By May 24, 2013
TJ Maxx Subsidiary Kicks Out Girl With Service Dog, Apologizes, Then Kicks Her Out Again
By October 28, 2011
After an autistic girl and her service dog were wrongly kicked out of a discount clothing store owned by TJ Maxx, the district manager profusely apologized and gave them a $25 gift card to pick out anything she liked. When she returned and tried to use the gift card, store staff kicked her out for having a service dog again. Looks like someone didn’t get the memo. [More]
Computer Hacking ID Thief Gets 20-Year Prison Term
By March 26, 2010
A federal court in Boston has sentenced Albert Gonzalez, the Miami computer hacker behind millions of dollars in credit card theft from national retailers like TJ Maxx, BJs, Barnes & Noble and more, to 20 years in prison for his crimes. [More]
TJX Hacker May Have Also Been Working For The Secret Service For $75,000 A Year
By March 23, 2010
Albert Gonzalez, the mastermind behind most of the multi-million dollar credit card breaches in the past few years, is being sentenced this week. (Feds are asking for 25 years.) Now his former accomplice, Stephen Watt, has told Wired that while Gonzalez was busy stealing and selling credit card data he was also being paid under the table by the U.S. Secret Service to inform on others, earning as much as $75,000 in cash annually. [More]
T.J. Maxx: Good News, Profits Are Up, Bad News, Hostage Situation
By November 18, 2009
Yesterday T.J. Maxx announced that third-quarter earnings surged ahead 47% as the company attracted great-recession-weary shoppers to its stores. Oh, and there might have been a “hostage” situation in one of its Florida stores.
Microsoft: We May Have Recovered Sidekick Users' Lost Data
By October 15, 2009
Maybe those lawsuits over the Sidekick data outage were a little premature. Microsoft, parent company of Sidekick maker Danger Inc, reports that they have recovered most, if not all, of users’ lost data. Yay!
Hackers Indicted For Stealing 130 Million Credit Card Numbers
By August 18, 2009
130 million is a large number, but that’s how many credit card numbers a group of three hackers are alleged to have stolen from five different companies including 7 Eleven, Hannaford, and Heartland Payment Systems says the Department of Justice.
This Is Why You Don't Order From Fad Diet & Wellness Sites
By March 18, 2009
Christina decided to give the famed acai berry a try. What the heck, she must have thought, it won’t cost me that much ($10) and the site’s refund policy clearly indicates when I can return the product, cancel the “subscription,” and move on. She knew the cancel-by date and was prepared to follow the rules. AcaiBerryUltimate.com had other plans, which are best summed up by this email they sent to her: “You can get your refund in hell. haahah.”
Sorry About That Data Breach, Here's 15% Off!
By January 22, 2009
As an apology to the millions of consumers who had their credit card info stolen, TJX (that’s T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright) is offering fifteen percent off all purchases in stores today only. We suggest that you pay with cash.
Did Turkish Police Beat Information Out Of A Suspect In The TJ Maxx Credit Card Case?
By October 24, 2008
Christopher Soghoian over at Cnet is reporting that Turkish police may have used violence to get the encryption keys of one of primary ringleaders in the TJ Maxx credit card theft investigation. The suspect, Maksym Yastremskiy, is apparently a “major figure in the international sale of stolen credit card information.”
TJX Credit Card Theft Crew Busted
By August 5, 2008
The world’s greatest bank thief is in custody. For ripping off over 45.7 million consumer’s credit cards from TJ Maxx, and other retailers, authorities pressed charges on Miami mastermind Albert Gonzalez and 11 others. The stolen numbers were sold to other scammers who manufactured fake debit cards and drained their victims’ accounts. The breach stemmed mainly from TJ Maxx stores using an unsecured wireless router.
Former Employee Says TJX Security In Lawrence, Kansas Is A Joke
By May 27, 2008
Remember TJX’s gigantic security breach problems last year, where data on 94 million accounts was stolen? Good for you, because apparently TJX doesn’t. A former employee of a TJX store in Lawrence, Kansas was fired recently for posting anonymous complaints online about the current sorry state of his store’s security, which included the store manager writing server login and password information on a sticky note, and the store resetting employee passwords to blank fields.
Librarian Takes Sprint Nextel & Wells-Fargo To Small Claims Court And Wins
By February 22, 2008
Last December, Theodore Karantsalis received a letter from Sprint, where he was a customer, telling him that someone who banks with Wells-Fargo—where he’s not a customer—was presented with his invoice and personal data when they logged into their Wells-Fargo Checkfree account. The customer contacted Sprint, and Sprint contacted Karantsalis. Karantsalis decided that he’d deal with the issue on his own instead of bringing a lawyer into it or throwing his hands up in frustration, so he took both companies to small claims court.
"Customers Are Avoiding Sears Stores In Droves"
By January 28, 2008
On paper, the merger between Kmart and Sears looked almost fool-proof. Investors were confident that hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert had the midas touch, and that Sears’ real estate holdings were worth more than $150 on their own. Sears’ well-regarded brands would be paired with Kmart’s convenient locations—and everyone would make tons of money.
Netflix Lifts Restrictions On Downloadable Movie Rentals
By January 15, 2008
Netflix has removed the monthly limits on all but its lowest-cost plan in an apparent attempt to position itself more competitively against Apple, which is expected to announce a downloadable movie rental service tomorrow. Now for as little as $8.99 per month you can watch as many movies on your PC as you can download.
Marshalls Advertisting Proactiv Over The PA?
By December 3, 2007
Have you ever heard a store advertising stuff they don’t sell over the PA? Reader Anne describes some weirdness she encountered at Marshalls:
I just returned from a trip to Marshalls where I was subjected to an ad for Proactiv over the PA system. It was really horrendous and must be addressed! The worst part is that I’m pretty sure they don’t even sell Proactiv at Marshalls, so it’s not like a blue light special informing us shoppers of a Proactive special in aisle 12.
TJX To Pay Up To 40.9 Million For Data Breach
By November 30, 2007
TJX will be paying as much as 40.9 million in a settlement with Visa and the bank that processes their credit card payments , says the Associated Press.
The funds will be used to help U.S. credit card issuers such as banks recover costs related to the breach, which may have exposed more than 100 million cards to potential fraud, TJX said.
National Retail Federation: Credit Card Companies Don't Care About Data Security
By November 28, 2007
Last Sunday’s 60 minutes had a report by Lesley Stahl about the now-infamous TJX data breach.
