The Secret Service and police in St. Charles and Chicago are investigating fraud cases perpetrated at Illinois-based Aldi stores. There are over 40 reports of debit card deductions using information obtained in Illinois and used at California ATMs. Area Sheriff’s departments say that there were also 4 reports in Elburn, IL.
The fraud, according to police, entails instances where thieves took PINs and magnetic strip data from the cards.
Yesterday, ABC 7 in Chicago reported that Illinois isn’t the only state affected, claiming that there have been reports in at least 11 states thus far.
Reports of fraud are surfacing Indiana and other outlying Chicago-area suburbs, including Wheeling (160 reports) and Buffalo Grove (50 reports).
Aldi declined to make comments as to any security improvements to protect consumer data, but claimed to remove payment terminals that were in question. The budget-shopping chain did not say how the machines were compromised. The Chicago office of the Secret Service also declined to provide information regarding dollar amounts lost, how the crime was perpetrated, and actual number of victims.
According to the the Daily Herald story, Aldi stores accept PIN-based debit-card transactions, including debit cards from banks and government food-benefits programs such as the Illinois LINK card. Aldi does not accept credit cards.
