Sweetbay credit card hackers still pump out profit

Five men driving pickup trucks were arrested while swiping diesel from the gas station at a Gibsonton Wal-Mart Supercenter last month.

They used hidden tanks in their pickups to take up to 1,000 gallons of gas at a time and pay for it right at the pumps with stolen credit cards, authorities said.

"They used counterfeit credit cards," said Maj. Bob Johnson, enforcement chief at the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "One guy had 47 cards on him."

The back story: If you figured damage was over from the Hannaford/Sweetbay Supermarket credit card hacking first disclosed four months ago, think again.

"I just opened a fraud case with a Sweetbay number," said David Hill, a detective with the Montgomery County Police in Maryland. "They're popping up all over the East Coast."

Murphy Oil, which runs Wal-Mart gas stations, helped trigger arrests in similar diesel theft cases across several states. Many used card numbers from the 4.2-million filched during transmission to a Hannaford Bros. computer in Portland, Maine, which handles transactions for Sweetbay, its corporate sibling in Tampa.

"We were hit for $1-million in a month," said Mark Rainey, a Murphy criminal fraud investigator.

The hidden tanks in Gibsonton held 1,000 gallons. So profit per load topped $4,000.

Miguel Perez, 30, of Tampa and four others from the Orlando area were arrested in separate incidents. All were charged with felony theft and/or credit card fraud.

The route the lifted card numbers followed remains a mystery. When Hannaford discovered the hack on Feb. 27, the numbers were traced to an Internet address in Europe. Investigators figure the numbers and expiration dates were then sold. Thieves turned them into cash by charging over the phone or the Internet or by making their own cards.

Comments on this article

by diana	Jul 13, 2008 8:20 PM
Solomon - you don't have a clue!

by Solomon	Jul 10, 2008 7:19 PM
Business thieves (via conracts) teach others how easy it is to steal-and they follow business leaders-cheating- & no one is jailed-good gig if you can get it. Bush did as did his dad & brother-so why not the common person-who is robbed by business?

by SweetbayVictim	Jul 9, 2008 8:16 PM
About bouncing checks. Some rightly wrote that credit/debit holders affected will get their money back and new cards. But, what about our credit history stained by a bounced check/s? Is Sweetbay going to clear my credit history? Lets sue the bastard

by lina	Jul 9, 2008 5:02 PM
As soon as the hacking became news, I canceled my debit card. Am I glad I did!

by fmr sweetbay consumer	Jul 9, 2008 4:28 PM
Bank Atlantic notified us only 2 weeks ago that our cards had been compromized then told us we had to come in to replace cards.I no longer shop at SweetBay as the offered no assistance to us when we got nailed with bounced check fees due to bad charg

by MarkInTO	Jul 9, 2008 3:31 PM
To Shafted: Your statement, "..The merchants that accept the bum cards are the ones that are getting shafted, not the people whose cards were hacked.." is not entirely true as the consumer ultimately pays in the form of higher prices and int. rates.

by dr z	Jul 9, 2008 10:37 AM
It's the stupid web guys and the guys making technology that are greenhorns. If credit cards were processed on a back end machine, the only accessible number would be the current one bring processed. Wake up and do the software the old fashioned way.

by Kaylee	Jul 9, 2008 10:36 AM
My Credit Union notified me that my MC Debit card was compromised and sent me a new card - they were so quick and helpful, very responsive. SweetBay did not do good PR with this incident and I won't shop there again.

by Pete	Jul 9, 2008 9:22 AM
About two/three weeks ago my card was charged $300.00 worth of gas at 4 gas stations in Mass. I have not been to Mass. in about 3.5 years. My bank credited the money back to me and I am still waiting on my new card.

by Bert	Jul 9, 2008 9:22 AM
It sounds so great...dispute the charges, get your money back. I got hit for just under $600. I discovered it when checks started bouncing. No one wants to reimburse for the almost $400 in bad check charges I had to pay.

by Kenny	Jul 9, 2008 9:19 AM
Just one more reason why I use CASH or a CHECK to pay for my purchases. Call me 'old fashioned', and 'not cutting edge', but also call me no problems. I also don't bank on line. SAFETY FIRST.

by LSB	Jul 9, 2008 9:19 AM
A word to the wise If you used a credit....pay special attention to your statements. Your Credit Card Companies are Ripping YOU off!

by Wondering	Jul 9, 2008 9:19 AM
How come no update on their security improvements? Is it safe?

by Zander	Jul 9, 2008 9:19 AM
Speaking of gas in Gibsonton, be careful of the 7-11 at Big Bend and 41. When you pump gas $1 will be charged against your account before you hear the pump turn on to dispense fuel.

by Shafted	Jul 8, 2008 7:28 PM
In reality, the consumer has nothing to worry about. Simply dispute any bogus charges, cancel the card and you get your money back. The merchants that accept the bum cards are the ones that are getting shafted, not the people whose cards were hacked.

by SweetbayVictim	Jul 8, 2008 6:00 PM
Joe,if this is a normal occurrence with online businesses, then how is that it didn't happen to me in 30 yrs of using cred and lately debit cards? Stupidity is no excuse for incompetence. Just tell us that your work depends on Sweetbay now being sue.

by Shawn	Jul 8, 2008 5:45 PM
My credit card was compromised. I had charges I didn't make on my card, but my Credit Card Company, deleted the false charges and issued me a new card.

by Tom	Jul 8, 2008 5:37 PM
Channel 8 was all over this and so was my credit union. Sweetbay new about this way back in Oct-Nov 2007 but didnt say anything until april 2008. I was lucky, got a new card. We shoulve been told ASAP!

by FormerSweetBayShopper	Jul 8, 2008 5:33 PM
SweetBay has never offered to help any of the fraud victims. I called their "Help Line" and was told there was nothing they could or would do. I feel a lawsuit is in order to make them provide credit monitoring service for all of us!

by James	Jul 8, 2008 5:32 PM
My bank also jumped on this and everyone with a potential problem was issued a new card. I check my account daily and never saw a problem

by Debbie	Jul 8, 2008 5:20 PM
I view my $ each day on line. That is how I caught the fraud; the bank didn't even know until I told them. My daily checking did not prevent these crooks from taking my info; it just prevented them from stealing more $. SB is the common thread.

by Debbie	Jul 8, 2008 5:19 PM
I had 2 $100 illegal withdrawals from my account for Murphy Oil at a Walmart on 6/3/8. My Debit Card info had been taken somehow unbeknownst to me and I had my card on me when the fraud was made. I had shopped at Sweet Bay once or twice. It's scary.

by Sharon	Jul 8, 2008 5:17 PM
When this story was in the papers it said only visa and mastercard were a problem. Has anyone else had this happen with their American Express Card?

by Chris	Jul 8, 2008 4:44 PM
WAMU caught my transactions in Maryland the day they happened & called me immediately to send me a new card & remove the transactions. Mine were are at Walmart & Home Depot.

by Joe	Jul 8, 2008 4:43 PM
Come on, Sweetbay? This could happen to any business. With online access you can monitor your account daily. Its my money, I watch it closely, so should you. My Credit Union, GTE, cancelled, & had a new card to me in 5 days. Quit blameing Sweetbay!

by Carol	Jul 8, 2008 12:50 PM
My credit union jumped on this ordeal the same week it happened, closed out the cards and sent new ones within the week. They have connections to these happenings therefore some others must be sleeping on the job!

by SweetbayVictim	Jul 8, 2008 12:50 PM
I was affected by the Sweetbay hack. Sweetbay, my bank and VISA gave me a hard time to recover the money stolen from my account. It is time for a class-action lawsuit against Sweetbay. Where do I sign?

by Becky	Jul 8, 2008 12:50 PM
We were lucky. Our credit union issued everyone that used their card at Sweetbay new ones.

by Heather	Jul 8, 2008 11:44 AM
If you used your card at Sweetbay at all between those dates, just get a new card if you haven't already! Two of our accounts were raided for over $750 in April. Yes - at gas stations. We got the $$ back but it was a pain for us and the bank.

by Marguerite	Jul 8, 2008 11:44 AM
Over the July 4th weekend I had four gas station charges to our debit card that was used in Conn. and Mass. amounting to approximately $300. My Credit Union is reimbursing us but it was a shock to find it really happened to us.

by Kat	Jul 8, 2008 11:44 AM
A bunch of thieves (un pan de ladrones)..