A Virginia-based company that sells auto parts is sending letters to nearly 500 South Florida customers to let them know thieves may have their credit card information.
In a news release issued on Friday, Advance Auto Parts declared itself a victim of a “payment card skimming incident ... potentially compromising the payment card data of 491 customers.”
It happened at two locations:1401 N.W. 27th Avenue in Miami and 11590 Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami.
Local 10 contacted police departments in both cities.
It is unclear exactly how the crooks managed to get their hands on the data.
Skimming tends to be a general term that relates to credit card information being used in a fraudulent way. This could happen when thieves place so-called skimmers on ATMs or on credit card machines.
Skimmers are devices that steal a person’s credit card data and are usually mounted on the part of the machine where a customer would insert a credit card. However, other forms of "skimming" could include an employee photocopying receipts.
Local 10 has asked Advance Auto Parts spokeswoman Shelly Whitaker to clarify exactly how the data of nearly 500 of its customers was compromised.
At this point, the company says it has "no evidence that any customers’ payment cards have been misused."
It is offering impacted customers a year of free credit monitoring and has established a hotline to answer questions customers may have.
The hotline number is 877-300-5607 and will be available through December 31, 2012.
For more information, visit the company's website.