if (preg_match('/ Since Montgomery Ward declared bankruptcy in 2001, this announcement might sound confusing, but the company was resurrected in 2004 under the name Direct Marketing Services Incorporated. Direct Market Services sells merchandise online under the names Wards.com, SearsHomeCenter.com, SearsShowplace.com, SearsRoomforKids.com, and two more. When the site discovered the hack in December, they did notify their payment processors, Visa and Mastercard, but failed to notify any individual customers. Of course, they now plan to do so after being asked about it by the Associated Press. The hat tip in this instance goes to CardCops, a group of cyber sleuths who track stolen payment card data in underground carder forums for financial institutions. CardCops spotted a group of 200,000 card numbers for sale (including CVC data) on one of the forums (chatrooms) they were monitoring. After tracing some of these cards to their owners, they discovered that they had one thing in common—Wards. When asked for some commentary, Visa declined to comment, MasterCard stated they warned the issuing banks to watch for suspicious activity, and Discover stated they issued new cards. Having worked around financial crimes for a number of years, I noticed they seemed to be on the rise. One reason for this is technology, which grows more rapidly than laws designed to protect us from it. …
Article Author: Ed Dickson
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