Arrests Made in Heartland Data Breach

The number of financial institutions that are reporting to have been affected by the Heartland Payment Systems breach have reached over 200  400. That list is here. I originally blogged about the largest cyber breach ever here. And some criminals are getting caught using the stolen credit card information.

From Bankinfosecurity.Com here:

The list of financial institutions impacted by the Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) breach now tops 220. In related news, three men in Florida were arrested earlier this week on multiple charges of credit card fraud, and some of the card numbers they used are tied to the Heartland hack. 

The Leon County, FL. Sheriff’s office arrested area residents Tony Acreus, Jeremy Frazier and Timothy Johns, who had allegedly used stolen credit card numbers since November.

According to the Tallahassee, FL. Democrat, the suspects were running “a very sophisticated and complex criminal enterprise.” Law enforcement is investigating how the three men were able to obtain credit card numbers from the Heartland breach, which was first announced on January 20.

Meanwhile, in just over a week, the number of financial institutions that have come forward to say they have been contacted by their credit card companies Visa and MasterCard in relation to the breach has jumped from fewer than 50 to more than 200.

If these criminals had already obtained the credit card information in November, this breach occured earlier than first thought.  And I certainly don’t think these guys were the masterminds behind this plot.  They are merely a carder gang that got busted.