SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- If you've used a credit card at a Barnes and Noble store recently, you might want to check your statements.
The "PIN PAD" devices at more than 60 Barnes and Noble locations were hacked!
Barnes and Noble wouldn't comment on the hacking except to say it is an ongoing investigation with the FBI and one of those locations is right here on the Central Coast.
Customer Michael Allen comes to the San Luis Obispo Barnes and Noble at least three times a week but was worried when he heard that 63 stores across the country had their pin pads hacked.
"I'd be very concerned about it," says Allen.
The Barnes and Noble store on Marsh Street in San Luis Obispo was one of the stores that was hacked. The company warned customers to check for false transactions and change their pin numbers.
"Once your pins has been compromised, they can use it again, pretty much anywhere," says San Luis Obispo Police Detective Jeff Smith.
Smith says it's best to use the credit card feature when swiping your card so customers never give up their pins while making purchases.
"What they're trying to obtain is the card number along with the pin number," says Smith. "Often, once they gain this information they can clone these cards, go to ATMs and get cash. The key is both the card number and the pin number."
The company said customers will now have to ask cashiers to swipe their cards on card readers connected to cash registers.
"Would I still shop here? I probably would but I would wait until they had the problem resolved."
And Allen says next time he visits, he will use neither.
"I would probably use cash."
After Barnes and Noble learned about the tampering, it disconnected all pin pads in its nearly 700 stores across the country.
