40 million credit cards compromised

June 18, 2005 

MasterCard International announced Friday that multiple instances of fraud have been tracked back to CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a company that processes credit card transactions and other payments. Customer names, banks, and account numbers of up to 40 million cardholders have been exposed, of which about 13.9 million are MasterCard-branded cards, the company said. Visa and American Express cards were also affected. 
"The breach appears to be the largest yet involving financial data," said David Sobel, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. 
CardSystems issued a statement late on Friday that said it learned of the potential breach 26 days ago, but that the FBI told the company not to advise the cardholders nor the public at large. CardSystems also said their statement had been vetted by the FBI.
40 million credit cards compromised June 18 , 2005 MasterCard International announced Friday that multiple instances of fraud have been tracked back to CardSystems Solutions , Inc. , a company that processes credit card transactions and other payments . Customer names , banks , and account numbers of up to 40 million cardholders have been exposed , of which about 13.9 million are MasterCard - branded cards , the company said . Visa and American Express cards were also affected . " The breach appears to be the largest yet involving financial data , " said David Sobel , of the Electronic Privacy Information Center . CardSystems issued a statement late on Friday that said it learned of the potential breach 26 days ago , but that the FBI told the company not to advise the cardholders nor the public at large . CardSystems also said their statement had been vetted by the FBI .
40 million credit cards
np0
MasterCard International
np1
multiple instances
np2
fraud
np3
CardSystems Solutions, Inc.
np4
a company
np5
credit card transactions
np6
other payments
np7
Customer names
np8
banks
np9
account numbers
np10
up to 40 million cardholders
np11
MasterCard-branded cards
np12
the company
np13
Visa and American Express cards
np14
The breach
np15
financial data
np16
David Sobel
np17
the Electronic Privacy Information Center
np18
CardSystems
np19
a statement
np20
Friday
np21
the potential breach
np22
the FBI
np23
the company
np24
the cardholders
np25
the public
np26
CardSystems
np27
their statement
np28
the FBI
np29