Identity thefts appear tied to craft stores

At least eight police departments in three counties have received dozens of reports this week from residents who discovered fraudulent credit and debit transactions on their accounts.

Police in Cook, DuPage and Lake counties said the common factor linking the victims appears to be that each person shopped at a Michaels craft store at least once between December and March.

More than 75 reports were filed with police in Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Glenview, Libertyville, Naperville, Roselle, Vernon Hills and West Chicago. Officials in some of those departments said they believe the problem may be even more wide spread.

“We are not sure if it’s at a larger scale, like a corporate level, or if the thieves are going to individual stores,” Bloomingdale Chief Frank Giammarese said Wednesday.

He said the fraudulent charges were made in recent days, even though the Michaels transactions are several months old. Many of the charges are debit withdrawals in other states, including California, he said.

Police in Naperville, Vernon Hills and West Chicago all said the security breach appears connected to Michaels. But police in Glenview said their cases are not strictly connected to the craft store.

Glenview Cmdr. Jeff Ader said his department believes its victims’ card numbers might have been accessed at a credit processing center that is used by several companies. He said that may be why Glenview victims do not all have a Michaels link, but it’s “too soon to determine.”

Doug Marker, Michaels vice president of loss prevention, said in a written statement the store only recently learned of the apparent security breach and is taking “immediate steps to protect our customers.”

“Michaels has just learned that it may have been a victim of PIN pad tampering in the Chicago area and that customer debit and credit card information may have been compromised,” Marker said in the statement. “We are committed to working closely with law enforcement authorities in their investigation.”

Marker said the company wants customers to be alert and take precautions if they believe their card was fraudulently accessed. Those people should contact the card issuer, he said, and also may want to change PIN numbers or security settings.

Giammarese said the FBI also is involved in the investigation.

“We want people to be mindful of their bank and credit statements until this issue is resolved,” he said.

Police also urged any other victims to immediately contact authorities.