Stolen TJX data has been linked to 6 arrests in the Miami area. According to the AP, the ID thieves exploited a Walmart gift card loophole that allowed them to buy multiple $400 gift cards without showing ID, which they would then redeem or sell.

From the AP:

“Losses experienced by Wal-Mart and the banks issuing the credit cards currently total more than $8 million in Florida and are still being calculated,” a release from the department said.

Framingham, Mass.-based TJX discovered in mid-December that customer data had been stolen by computer hackers and used to make fraudulent debit card and credit card purchases, but did not inform the public of the breach until mid-January. TJX, parent of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and other chains, later said it took a month to make the breach public because it was trying to prevent further damage.

The company at first thought the intrusion began in May 2006 and ran into January, but later said it found the breach started nearly a year earlier, in July 2005.

—MEGHANN MARCO

Florida arrests linked to data theft from TJX systems [Boston Globe]
Stolen Data From T.J. Maxx Parent Company Surfaces In Florida Wal-Mart Fraud [Information Week]

PREVIOUSLY: TJ Maxx Security Breach Happened A Year Earlier Than Previously Reported
T.J. Maxx Credit Card Breach Probed By MA & RI AGs
(Photo: Jels)

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