Last week, the Mercyhurst Bookstore was victim of a security breach involving credit cards used at the store, which resulted in the theft of some customers’ information and cases of online fraud.

Immediately after the breach was discovered, the credit card system was shut down for some time to prevent the hackers from retrieving any more credit card information.

According to Bookstore Manager Daniel Cullen, the issue is not exclusive to Mercyhurst. “It has been going on all over the country, people maliciously hacking into systems to retrieve credit card information,” he said.

Staff advised students to check their account statements to make sure no unauthorized transactions were made. Common locations for these include but are not limited to California and countries in Africa.

On top of that, management suggests that students take measures themselves, such as replacing the cards that were used at the bookstore during the timeframe this happened, just in case the hackers try to use them again.

“Parents have been very understanding of the situation,” said Cullen. “It’s something that could happen to anyone.”

Student response has been mixed, although the distaste for the situation is general.

“I think it’s really crazy to think it could happen to you. Credit cards need more security. Getting reimbursed is not enough, preventing these people from the act all together should be the goal,” one student said.

Another student did not notice that his account had been tampered with until his card was declined at a gas station for lack of funds.

“It’s very upsetting to know someone took the money out of my account, but it was worse to only find out after my credit card declined, which was worse than finding out someone had stolen my information,” he said.

The bookstore management guaranteed that no money was lost during the incident and the banks were proceeding to take the appropriate security measures to protect the customers affected by the breach.

Although the issue has been resolved on the bookstore’s behalf, university officials encourage students to proceed with precaution and take the safety measures necessary to make sure their money is not compromised.

For more information, as well as any questions or concerns, please contact Daniel Cullen at 814-824-2229.