Customers who recently made purchases at one of Costco Wholesale Corporation’s shops have received notification letters informing them that their credit card information may have been stolen.

According to Fortune 500 rankings, the retail giant—also known as Costco Wholesale and Costco—is an American multinational that runs a sizable chain of membership-only retail locations. It is the fifth-largest retailer in the world and the tenth-largest firm in the US by total sales.

It runs e-commerce websites with 737 warehouses across the world that cater to the Americas, Europe, and Asia, among other global areas.

planted skimmer in the Costco warehouse

During a regular inspection by Costco staff, a credit card skimming device was found in one of the company’s warehouses, leading to the discovery of the breach.

The business got rid of the gadget, let the authorities know, and is now assisting the police in their investigation.

In breach notification letters, Costco informed possibly impacted customers that they had recently visited a Costco facility where a payment card skimming device had been found.

“Our member records show that throughout the possible operational period of the device, you swiped your payment card to make a transaction at the impacted terminal.”

probable theft of customer financial information

Costco said that if those who placed the card theft device had been successful in accessing the data prior to the skimmer being discovered and taken out, then consumers affected by the incident may have had their payment information stolen.

The magnetic stripe of your credit card, which contains your name, card number, card expiration date, and CVV, may have been obtained by unauthorised individuals if they were able to remove information from the device before it was identified, according to Costco.

Customers were given advice by the merchant to check their bank and credit card statements for fraudulent payments and alert the appropriate financial institutions to any suspect activities.

The actual number of customers who were impacted or the warehouse where the skimmer device was discovered were not disclosed in the data breach notification letters issued to affected consumers.