GE Money Loses Data on 650,000 Credit Card Holders

Missing customer info raises data breach fears
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2008 4:29 AM CST
GE Money Loses Data on 650,000 Credit Card Holders
Mall patrons walk toward an entrance to a J.C. Penney department store in Dallas in this Feb. 16, 2007 file photo. JC Penney customers are among those who had their details lost by GE Money. A GE Money spokesman wouldn't give details of other retailers involved. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, file)   (Associated Press)

GE Money has lost a computer tape with the personal information of up to 650,000 customers of JC Penney and other retailers, reports the AP. The tape went missing in the warehouse of a data storage company. There's "no indication of theft" and none of the data has yet been used, said a GE Money spokesman.

 "Many of the large retail organizations" are affected, he said, but he wouldn't identify them. The missing records include 150,000 Social Security numbers. GE Money representatives said they are working to contact consumers whose data has been lost, although one customer commented that many who received notification letters may have tossed what they thought was junk mail. (More General Electric stories.)

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