If You Shopped at Forever 21 This Year, Your Credit Card Info May Have Been Hacked
Credit cards are about as convenient as it gets, allowing you to buy whatever you want (within your limits, of course) without having to carry around a wad of cash. However, their benefit is also their downfall, because if scammers get their hands on your data, they can do a whole lot of damage. And when someone gets ahold of a company’s credit card records — the data from its customers — they can do a lot more damage, as Forever 21 is unfortunately discovering.
According to USA Today, Forever 21 is facing data breach concerns after the company was notified via a third-party report that there may have been unauthorized access to customer card data from card readers at certain locations (the company didn’t disclose which) between March and October of this year. “Because of the encryption and tokenization solutions that Forever 21 implemented in 2015, it appears that only certain point of sale devices in some Forever 21 stores were affected when the encryption on those devices was not operating,” the company said in a statement to its customers.
Now under investigation, Forever 21 says they are working with a “leading security and forensics firm” to assess what damage was done. “We regret that this incident occurred and apologize for any inconvenience,” the statement read.
The brand is now urging customers to check their monthly statements for any strange charges and to notify their banks immediately if anything seems off.
Luckily, banks and credit card companies don’t usually contest unrecognized charges, so there shouldn’t be too much lasting damage. If you’re still worried, however, you can also consider ordering a new card or closing your account or contact customer service at 1 (888) 494-3837.
Are you concerned about this latest data breach? Tell us @BritandCo!
(Photos via Jeff Schear/Getty)
