Dime News
Heartland Payment Systems™ Debit & Credit Card
Information Breach
News Release - February 2009
Heartland Payment Systems™, a national network that processes debit
and credit cards on behalf of merchants, announced a security breach in
late January.
What happened?
During the week of January 12, 2009, Heartland Payment Systems™ was
notified of a 2008 security breach within its processing system. Visa®
and MasterCard® alerted Heartland of the breach after suspicious activity
was detected surrounding processed card transactions. Heartland enlisted
the help of several forensic auditors to conduct a thorough investigation
into the matter.
What type of information was compromised?
Debit and credit card numbers, and in some cases, customer names may have
been compromised in this data breach. Criminals illegally gained access
to some information by taking data from the magnetic strip on the back
of credit and debit cards. However, no cardholder Social Security numbers,
encrypted personal identification numbers (PIN), addresses, or telephone
numbers were involved in the breach.
How does this affect Dime Bank and Dime Customers?
While this matter is still under investigation, at this time, Heartland
does not know how many cardholder account numbers are at risk of being
compromised. However, Dime Bank is working closely with our vendors to
continue monitoring any suspicious activity. Customers will be notified,
and new cards issued, if their Dime debit card is identified in connection
with the Heartland breach. Confidential merchant business data was not
affected.
What should Dime Customers do to protect themselves?
To help protect your credit/debit card information:
· Frequently review your bank statement(s) for authentic or suspicious
transactions. Contact Dime Bank with questionable activity.
· If using your PIN, do not share it by phone or email.
· Shred personal financial information before disposing.
Is this likely to happen again?
This security breach did not compromise Dime Bank's software system; therefore
we do not know if it will happen again. However, Heartland has taken proactive
steps in implementing a next-generation program designed to flag network
abnormalities. Heartland understands that this breach may be the result
of a widespread global cyber fraud, and is working closely with the US
Secret Service and Dept. of Justice.
What if I have more questions?
To read more about this security breach, visit www.2008breach.com.
If your questions are still not answered after reading the information
posted at www.2008breach.com,
please call Heartland toll-free at 1-866-399-6228 or email 2008breach@e-hps.com.
A Heartland representative will be available to answer your questions.
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