NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble Inc. officials said this past week that bugs were planted in the credit-card PIN pads that led to credit- and debit-card information being stolen from 63 of its stores.
The bookstore chain reported that customers who shopped at 63 of its stores as recently as last month may have had their credit- or debit-card information stolen in what the U.S. bookstore chain called a "sophisticated criminal effort," according to a Reuters report.
The retailer, which operates almost 700 bookstores, said that federal law enforcement authorities have been informed of the breach and that it is supporting their investigation.
Barnes & Noble said it had detected tampering with one personal identification number (PIN) pad device at each of the 63 affected stores and by Sept. 14 had disconnected all the pads at every one of its stores. The tampering affected less than 1% of its PIN pads.
Bugs were planted in the PIN pads that allowed credit card and PIN numbers to be pulled, Barnes & Noble said.
The company said it did not know how many customers were affected. The stores are in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
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