Wards Nursery & Garden Center Data Breach (2012)

Ward’s Nursery & Garden Center may be at the center of a security breach that resulted in scores of fraudulent purchases made this month with information from dozens of locals’ credit and debit cards. Gregory Ward, co-owner of the South Main Street store, said his company was contacted by a bank regarding the possible security breach, after which Ward’s immediately reached out to law enforcement officials to cooperate with any investigation. The exact number of cardholders or banks who’ve been affected is unknown, though local banks underscore that no account information has been compromised. It’s believed dozens of customers from various local and national banks had their credit or debit card information stolen and used to make fraudulent, in-person purchases around the world. It’s possible that hundreds of customers’ information was stolen over a two-month period concluding last week.