Originally published May 2 2005
Thieves may have stolen thousands of credit card records from Polo Ralph Lauren
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Several thousand credit card records were stolen from Polo Ralph Lauren and credit card companies are scrambling to ensure that their customers get new cards before any damage is done. HSBC has already alerted 180,000 holders of GM-branded cards about the break-in and other credit card companies are now assessing the damage. Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard are currently working with Polo Ralph Lauren to see who was affected and whose cards need to be replaced. The companies are all hoping to keep the losses under control, but it is still not clear how many records were stolen, nor who actually stole them.
Data apparently stolen from the popular clothing retailer Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL) is forcing banks and credit card issuers to notify thousands of consumers that their credit-card information may have been exposed.
HSBC North America, a division of London-based HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), has begun notifying holders of the HSBC-issued, General Motors-branded MasterCard that criminals may have obtained access to their credit card information and that the cards should be replaced.
HSBC spokesman Stephen E. Cohen said Thursday that "we began doing it last week, and we are continuing."
The security breach was reported in Thursday's editions of The Wall Street Journal, which quoted "people with knowledge of the matter" as saying the data was stolen at Polo Ralph Lauren.
A spokeswoman at Polo Ralph Lauren, which is headquartered in New York, said "we have no comment at the moment" on the report.
It was unclear how many other cards might be at risk, but both Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard - the nation's largest credit card associations - were reported to be dealing with Polo Ralph Lauren on the matter.
The statement said banks that are members of the card association were notified.
"Investigations into this incident by MasterCard, law enforcement and other parties are ongoing," the statement said.
Visa USA issued a similar statement, saying it was notified "by a U.S. merchant" of a possible data security breach.
The New York-based bank said it takes "appropriate action" when notified by Visa or MasterCard of potential security breaches, but gave no other details.
HSBC's Cohen said the bank did not yet know if the thieves had used any of the data they got.
"We're being cautious, and we want to protect our customers' accounts, so we're notifying them," he said.
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