Thousands of consumers could be at risk for identity theft or credit card fraud after what could be the largest data base breach ever, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday Heartlands Payment Systems said that hackers breached its system in 2008.
Federal investigators are looking into the possibility that consumer’s credit card numbers, names, expiration dates and personal identification numbers could be in criminals’ hands.
Heartland officials said the company was tipped off by Visa and Master Card. The credit card processing company, which is based in New Jersey, investigated and discovered late last week that their systems had been cracked.
The system was used to process 100 million card transactions per month from 175,000 merchants.
Heartland would not release the names of the businesses that were affected. They only said it involved thousands of restaurants, hotels and retail stores across the country. Customers who used their cards at any of those businesses could be at risk.
Investigators said the credit card companies will contact the victims