More than 500 Lucky store customers have contacted the company regarding fraudulent or attempted fraudulent activity, Save Mart Supermarkets said in a customer alert on its website. Save Mart Supermarkets operates the Lucky chain.
In a consumer advisory issued on Nov. 23, the company said it had learned that card-reading machines in the self-checkout lanes at 20 stores contained data skimming devices. The first tampered card reader was discovered during a regular inspection, the company said.
Three more stores were added to the list Monday, and the San Leandro store at 1300 Fairmont Drive was added Wednesday.
The 24 affected stores are located all over the Bay Area.
"Every customer should continue checking their accounts regularly as a precaution if they used a checkout terminal in October or November," the customer advisory stated.
Local, state and federal agencies are involved in the investigation, and the U.S. Secret Service is examining the tampered card readers, company officials said.
Save Mart spokeswoman Alicia Rockwell said the Secret Service called the skimming devices "extremely sophisticated."
Only one self-checkout card reader in each of the 24 stores was compromised, and all the affected card readers were replaced as of Nov. 23, according to the company.
"At this point, we have no reason to believe our employees were involved," the company said in a statement, noting that Lucky workers were also victimized.
Possibly related to this, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat is reporting that hundreds of Ukiah residents have had numerous fraudulent charges. Savings Bank of Mendocino County has blocked 1,000 debit cards alone.
Here is a list of the stores:
- 815 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda
- 6843 Mission St., Daly City
- 1000 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito
- 5000 Mowry Ave., Fremont
- 35820 Fremont Blvd., Fremont
- 919 Edgewater Blvd., Foster City
- 25151 Santa Clara St., Hayward
- 45 Murchison Drive, Millbrae
- 1350 S Park Victoria Dr., Milpitas
- 715 E El Camino Real, Mountain View
- 1761 Grant Ave., Novato
- 939 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma
- 1530 Fitzgerald Drive, Pinole
- 200 Woodside Plaza, Redwood City
- 1133 Old County Rd., San Carlos
- 234 Saratoga Ave., Santa Clara
- 5510 Monterey Highway, San Jose
- 200 El Paseo De Saratoga, San Jose
- 844 Blossom Hill Rd., San Jose
- 3270 South White Rd., San Jose
- 1515 Sloat Blvd., San Francisco
- 1300 Fairmont Drive, San Leandro
- 484 N Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale
- 32300 Dyer St., Union City
