Sally Beauty Supply Hacked!

When it comes to black women and their hair they don’t play! When it comes to black people and their money, they don’t play! So as you can imagine messing with both at the same time is a dangerous proposition but it seems that that is just what is happening.

A lot black women purchase their hair and beauty supplies from Sally Beauty Supply and it seems that the store’s payment system has been breached.

The point of sale system (POS) of Sally has suffered an intrusion resulting in the possible compromise of nearly 25,000 payment records. By payment records I mean credit card data. The company originally stated that they did not suffer any loss of data but card issuers say different.

Security Media Group reported that card issuers have reported they have detected evidence of fraud related to the cards used at Sally stores. The company has hired Verizon to investigate the breach and refuses to speculate until the forensic investigation is complete. The Secret Service is also investigating.

Sally operates 4,500 stores around the worldwide with $3.6 billion in sales reported in 2013.

Many stores that suffer data breaches are reluctant to report it immediately. Many claim that they need to maintain some secrecy in order to properly investigate. Another reason may be to protect their reputation and sales.  Target stores have been accused of hiding the true size of the breach and when it occurred from their customers.

 Breaking It Down

Point of Sale or POS breaches are occurring far too often. Target stores made big news when their system was breached and millions of credit card numbers were stolen.

Black people need to be aware of this activity because it’s your money and credit at risk. Stolen credit cards are sold in batches on underground websites and yours may be in the bunch. Constant vigilance is required if you regularly use your credit or debit cards at stores. Keep in mind that the laws about revealing data breaches vary by state. Your state may not require the merchant to report data breaches right away. That plays into the criminal hands. The card maybe used right away before the breach is reported or it may be months before you spot a fraudulent charge to your account.

Many banks and credit cards will refund fraudulent charges but the loss of your card number can do damage in other ways. It may appear on your credit report or you identity maybe stolen. Another card or duplicate maybe issued in your name resulting in you going to war with banks and credit reporting services to get it corrected.

See Also: Stores Are Not That Interested in Protecting You