There has been a problem with debit card information in many US banks, putting a lot of customers at risk.
There was a security breach on a merchant’s payment card platform that affected six banks’ debit card security. These banks are Mainstreet Bank, Savers Bank, The Village Bank, Watertown Savings Bank, Webster Five Cents Savings Bank, and Eagle Bank.
This problem is happening more and more often every day, and with each hack, more and more customers are affected. This is why the banks sent a report to the Massachusetts government to let people know about the problem and try to stop it before it gets worse.
Statements have been made public, and a copy of a notice sent to Eagle Bank customers was recently posted on the government website.
The notice explains why the problems happened: an unnamed Mastercard merchant let people get into people’s bank account information without permission, which put users’ information at risk.
Both the Village Bank and the Savers Bank confirmed the information by sending notices and letters to their customers to let them know what was going on.
“We have been notified by MasterCard International of a suspected security breach of a merchant’s network,” the statement from Savers says to customers who were affected. “Transactions that may have compromised some of Savers Bank’s debit card numbers.”
We haven’t seen any proof of fraud, but to protect your account, we’re sending out new cards for all of the cards that were affected. A new debit card ordered on October 29, 2024, will be sent to you.
Officials at both the bank and Eagle have reassured customers that they will automatically be sent new debit cards, without having to do anything extra to report or explain it. This is to stop fraudulent charges from spreading to cards that have been compromised.
Webster Five Cents Savings Bank has also made new debit cards mandatory, but it seems to have told its customers less about the breach, ostensibly to keep them from getting too scared at this early stage.
“Recently, we were told that your Webster Five debit card number may have been stolen.” We have given you a new debit card, which will be in the mail in 7–10 business days, so that no one else can use your old one without your permission. […] It’s important to look over your statements right away to see if there are any strange transactions.
If you find out that someone else has used your card without your permission, please let us know right away so that we can close it and help you file a dispute. If we hear from you within 60 days of sending you the first statement with the problem or error, you won’t have to pay for any unnecessary debit card charges.
Watertown Savings Bank is being more cautious by telling customers to be careful and only giving out new cards when asked for. This might be a good idea to keep people from getting scared, but it might not be a good idea in the long run because scared people whose information hasn’t been stolen might ask for a new card just to be safe. They think about things in their statement.
“Some of your personal information, like your name and card number, was stolen in the breach…”We do ask that you keep a close eye on your account activity for the next 12 to 24 months and report any strange or suspicious activity right away. If you’d rather have a new card made, please call the bank.
Mainstreet had a little more information. They said that the breach happened from “June 28, 2023, to April 26, 2024,” and they said that the attackers got personally identifiable or protected data. Also, to be safe, they are not replacing the affected debit cards automatically.
Instead, they are offering replacements to anyone who wants to order one. They said, “We have reason to believe that some of our customers’ card information may have been stolen during the incident. This could include card names, numbers, and expiration dates.”
At this point, we don’t have any proof or reason to believe that someone who shouldn’t have had access got personal information like Social Security numbers or Main Street Bank account numbers.
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