Barnes & Noble Inc. said Wednesday the tampering of devices used by customers to swipe credit and debit cards in 63 of its stores was a “sophisticated criminal effort” to steal information, and reiterated it’s working with federal law enforcement authorities.
The nation’s largest bookseller late Tuesday disclosed the data breach in stores in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, and warned customers to check for unauthorized transactions and to change their personal identification numbers, or PINs.
B&N said only one device, or PIN pad, was tampered with in each store, affecting less than 1 percent of these devices in its stores. It released a complete list of locations that were affected. All the PIN pads in its nearly 700 stores nationwide were disconnected on Sept. 14, after the company learned of the tampering.
In a press release issued Wednesday, B&N said the criminals planted bugs in the tampered devices, allowing for the capture of credit card and PIN numbers. The company did not offer a timeline for when the bugs were planted or how long they were in use before they were discovered.
B&N said that it’s continuing to work with federal law enforcement and with banks, payment card brands and issuers to identify accounts that may have been compromised, so that additional fraud-protection measures can be taken.
Customers at its book stores will now have to ask cashiers to swipe credit or debit cards on card readers connected to cash registers, a process that is secure, Barnes & Noble said.
Anything bought on Barnes & Noble.com or with the chain’s Nook devices and app were not affected, the company said. It also said its customer database is secure.
Barnes & Noble is only the latest major retailer to be a victim of a serious data breach. In one of the largest, more than 45 million credit and debit cards were exposed to possible fraud because of hackers who broke into the computer system of TJX Cos., the parent company of retailers TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, starting in 2005.
A list of the affected Barnes & Noble stores:
California:
— 4735 Commons Way, Calabasas
— 2470 Tuscany Street, Corona
— 2015 Birch Road, Chula Vista
— 313 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera
— 604 Bay Street, Emeryville
— 810 West Valley Parkway, Escondido
— 1315 E. Gladstone Street, Glendora
— 5183 Montclair Plaza Lane,Montclair
— 894 Marsh St., San Luis Obispo
— 2615 Vista Way, Oceanside
— 72-840 Highway 111, Palm Desert
— 27460 Lugonia Ave., Redlands
— 1150 El Camino Real, San Bruno
— 10775 Westview Parkway, San Diego
— 3600 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose
— 11 West Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo
— 9938 Mission Gorge Road, Santee
— 40570 Winchester Rd., Temecula
— 4820 Telephone Road, Ventura
— 1149 S. Main St., Walnut Creek
Connecticut
— 470 Universal Drive North, North Haven
— 100 Greyrock Place, Stamford
— 60 Isham Road, W. Hartford
Florida
— 18711 NE Biscayne Blvd, Aventura
— 333 N. Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach
— 152 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables
— 1900 W. International Speedway, Daytona Beach
— 2051 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
— 12405 N Kendall Drive, Miami
— 11380 Legacy Ave., Palm Beach Gardens
— 14572 SW 5th St., Pembroke Pines
— 11820 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines
— 5701 Sunset Drive, S. Miami
— 700 Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach
Illinois
— 1441 West Webster Avenue, Chicago
— 1130 North State Street, Chicago
— 5380 Route 14, Crystal Lake
— 20600 North Rand Road, Deer Park
— 728 North Waukegan Road, Deerfield
— 1630 Sherman Avenue, Evanston
— 1468 Springhill Mall Blvd, W. Dundee
Massachusetts
— 170 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill
— 96 Derby Street, Hingham
— 82 Providence Highway, East Walpole
New Jersey
— 395 Route 3 East, Clifton
— 55 Parsonage Road, Edison
— 2134 State Highway 35, Holmdel
— 4831 US Highway 9, Howell
New York
— 23-80 Bell Blvd., Bayside
— 176-60 Union Turnpike, Fresh Meadows
— 1542 Northern Blvd., Manhasset
— 160 E. 54th Street, New York
— 2289 Broadway, New York
— 33 East 17th Street, (Union Square) New York
— 555 Fifth Ave., New York
— 2245 Richmond Ave., Staten Island
— 230 Main St., White Plains
— 97 Warren Street, New York
Pennsylvania
— 100 West Bridge Street, Homestead
— 800 Settlers Ridge Center Drive, Pittsburgh
Rhode Island
— 1311 West Main Road, Middletown
— 371 Putnam Pike, Smithfield
— 1350-B Bald Hill Rd., Warwick