The popular consumer electronics, video games, and wireless service retailer, GameStop, has now confirmed that some of their customer's Credit Card information may have been compromised. Those that have recently purchased any item from the GameStop website in the past few months are likely affected.
Hacked customer purchase information
The retailer recently released a statement and revealed that credit card payment data used on their website might have been hacked and downloaded. The company explained that a third party source had informed them that data about credit card accounts used to purchase items on their stores had been put up for sale on an undisclosed website.
GameStop's plan of action
The company has assured customers that they have contacted a leading security firm to look into the breach and investigate whether or not the claims are indeed true. The confirmation of the violation and its scope are apparently the focus of the company as of the moment as they attempt to resolve any issues that may arise from the alleged breach.
"GameStop has and will continue to work non-stop to address this report and take appropriate measures to eradicate any issue that may be identified," the company mentioned in a statement.
Who are affected
Several sources from the financial industry were the first ones to receive alerts from credit card processing companies informing them that the GameStop website was likely compromised.
According to the sources, data was probably gathered by hackers sometime between September of last year and February of this year. As of the moment, it hasn't yet been confirmed if the retail website was indeed hacked as the alleged credit card payments data hasn't been acquired yet.
The retailer's advice to customers
Apart from apologizing for the concern that the situation has caused its customers, Gamespot is now advising those who have recently purchased from their website to monitor their credit card accounts closely.
Those who spot any erroneous or unauthorized charges are encouraged to report the charges to their credit cards' issuing bank immediately. The majority of the banks should be able to issue immediate refunds as most bank policies do state that holders are not responsible for unauthorized transactions that are immediately reported.The retailer should release an update soon as their investigation progresses.
