More than 52,000 Maine credit cards have appeared on a black market website, most likely as a result of a data breach at Home Depot, a Portland Press Herald investigation revealed.
The newspaper found that a website run by Rescator, a well-known Russian hacker, contains 52,350 Maine credit card numbers that appear to match up with Home Depot’s 11 stores in Maine, based on posted geographical data that shows where the data breaches occurred.
Home Depot has yet to confirm whether those credit cards were stolen from its Maine stores. A company-wide data breach at the home improvement retail chain was first reported by krebsonsecurity.com on Sept. 2.
For security reasons, the Press Herald didn’t name the black market website, which lists the first six digits, bank identification number and expiration date of credit cards — available for any visitor who registers with the black market site.
The largest concentration of stolen Maine credit cards were from locations in South Portland, Biddeford, Topsham, Bangor, Augusta and Portland.
William Lund, superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, told the newspaper that consumers shouldn’t panic, in part because banks will likely cover any losses as a result of fraudulent activity. He said the bureau has to receive any reports of fraudulent activity.