Hannford Data Breach: TD BankNorth Cards Compromised - bankinfosecurity.com 23 May 2008

NH Customers Notified; New Cards Issued

New Hampshire customers of TD BankNorth were notified earlier this week that their Visa debit or credit cards have been compromised, and the likeliest culprit is the recent Hannaford Brothers Supermarkets security breach.

"We became aware during the last few days that there was some fraudulent activity on some of our customer's credit card accounts," says Jennifer Carlson, TD BankNorth's spokesperson. "It was limited to New Hampshire. As far as the New Hampshire customers, they have been contacted and their accounts have been closed and new cards reissued." Carlson says the bank's privacy policy prevents the bank from giving out how many customers were involved.

Cards of the affected customers are being replaced as soon as fraud is detected. Instead of having a mass cancellation and reissuing its Visa debit and credit cards, the bank is relying on fraud-detection computer programs, which it says can monitor for fraud, and even decline transactions as they are being made.

Another bank, Citizens Bank, also located in the Northeast, took the immediate step after the breach to announce it was reissuing all credit cards of customers that had shopped at Hannaford, regardless whether they might have been involved in the breach.

In March, Hannaford announced that a security breach had compromised more than 4 million customer card numbers. (See related stories: Hannaford Data Breach: An Inside Job?; Hannaford Data Breach May be 'Tip of the Iceberg')

Carlson notes that the Hannaford breach isn't the only event that triggers fraud. "Fraudulent transactions happen every day, not just as a result of breaches," she says. "We encourage all of our customers to be vigilant in protecting their personal and financial information at all times."

Customers are also advised to review their bank statements online or when they arrive in the mail for any suspect transactions. "And always call the number on the back of the credit card when there is a problem with the card," she says.