Global Payments globalpayments.com Global Payments data breach 2012: what happened and what to do
Payment processor Global Payments said on March 30, 2012 that someone had accessed part of its processing system. It estimated fewer than 1.5 million card numbers may have been exported. Names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not obtained, the company said.
View all 13,177 breaches- Breach date
- 30 Mar 2012
- Made public
- 30 Mar 2012
- Data exposed
- Credit cards
- Last updated
Reviewed by Anthon Wansland
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
What happened
On March 30, 2012, Global Payments, a company that processes card payments for merchants, said it had found and reported unauthorized access to a part of its processing system. It said it identified the issue in early March, brought in outside forensic experts and contacted federal law enforcement.
On April 1, the company said fewer than 1,500,000 card numbers may have been exported and that the affected area was limited to North America. Card issuers had described a larger exposure in their alerts to banks, so the 1.5 million figure is the company's own estimate, not a confirmed total.
Sources checked: money.cnn.com, bankinfosecurity.com, iapp.org
Last verified against the official page:
What was exposed
Global Payments said Track 2 card data may have been taken. Track 2 is the data on a card's magnetic stripe. The company said cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not obtained.
That matters for what you do next. Card data alone lets criminals try to make fraudulent charges on the card. It does not by itself give them your identity, so the main job is watching your card statements and replacing a card your bank flags.
The company's response
In June 2012 Global Payments said the incident was contained, and its chief executive apologized. The breach appears on the California Attorney General's breach notification list.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Watch your card statements
Check recent charges on any card you used at a merchant that relied on Global Payments. Report anything you don't recognize to your card issuer right away.
- 2
Replace a card your bank flags
If your issuer tells you the card number was involved, ask for a new card. The FTC says to report fraud and to keep a record of what you reported.
- 3
Consider a fraud alert or credit freeze
Social Security numbers were not exposed, so a freeze isn't required. If you want extra protection, the FTC explains how fraud alerts and credit freezes work at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
- 4
Check whether your email or phone is in this and other breaches
Run a free Serus scan to see whether your email address or phone number shows up in known breaches. Serus monitors breach databases and the dark web and alerts you if your data appears, and tells you what to do next. It can't remove data from a breach, so the steps here are what protect you.
Official filings
- California Attorney General , filed 3 Jul 2012
Timeline
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The breach happened
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The company made it public
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Reported to the California Attorney General
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the Global Payments breach?
Global Payments said fewer than 1.5 million card numbers may have been exported. Your card issuer is the best source: banks contacted customers whose cards were involved.
What was exposed in the Global Payments breach?
The company said Track 2 card data may have been taken, and that names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not obtained.
Should I change my password?
The company did not say passwords were involved. Watch your card activity instead, and report unknown charges to your card issuer.
Sources
- money.cnn.com/2012/04/02/technology/global-payments-breach/index.htm
- bankinfosecurity.com/statements-on-global-payments-breach-a-4640
- iapp.org/news/a/2012-04-02-payment-processing-breach-affects-1.5-million
- consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-credit-freezes-and-fraud-alerts
- identitytheft.gov/databreach
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