A debit card fraud breach that began swarming Northeast Ohio in April is said to have affected tens of thousands of accounts and dozens of financial institutions, including at least seven credit unions.

The breach, which reportedly involved fraudsters who made purchases using counterfeit debit cards that contained stolen account information, follows several other significant attacks including a breach at Michaels stores that resulted in two lawsuits against the company and a compromise of Citigroup's online banking platform that led to the exposure of more than 360,000 accounts.

The most recent spending sprees reportedly took place at retailers across the U.S. and in several other countries, and thieves stole as much as $4,000 from a single account.

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Natasha Chilingerian

Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.