ShopRite breach affects thousands
Customers of store’s pharmacy from 2005-15 might have had personal information exposed
More than 7,000 people who used the pharmacy at ShopRite on Miron Lane during a recent 10-year span have been alerted by mail about a security breach that might have exposed their personal and medical information, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
Maureen Gillespie, of ShopRite parent Wakefern Food Corp., said that in addition to 7,000 prescription drug customers whose information was compromised, anyone who purchased the over-the-counter medication pseudoephedrine or over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine at the ShopRite pharmacy in Ulster also had information compromised. The purchase of those drugs requires customers to show a driver’s licence.
The number of over-the-counter sales involved in the breach
was not immediately available.
According to a Wakefern press release, an electronic device in the Ulster store’s pharmacy that was used to capture customer signatures was inadvertently disposed
of in February 2016. ShopRite learned of the incident on Aug. 19, 2017, and has been investigating since then, the company said.
“Customers who had prescriptions filled at the [Ulster] ShopRite ... pharmacy between 2005 and 2015 signed this device to confirm acknowledgement of ShopRite’s privacy policy and payment by their insurance
provider, if applicable,” the press release said. “The device captured customer information including name, phone number, date of birth, prescription number, medication name, date and time of pick-up or delivery, signature and ZIP code. These affected customers have been notified via letter.”
Wakefern said the missing
device did not store customers’ Social Security numbers, or their debit or credit card information.
The company said it has found no evidence that any of the exposed personal information has been abused.
“While ShopRite has no reason to believe that any of the information from the device has been accessed or misused in any way and
believes the likelihood of this occurring is low, ShopRite is alerting customers who shopped at the [Ulster] ShopRite ... pharmacy so that they may take steps to guard against identify fraud,” the company press release stated.
ShopRite Supermarkets Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Wakefern Food Corp., operates 34 ShopRite stores in New York state
and New Jersey. Gillespie said the breach did not involve the ShopRite stores in New Paltz and Ellenville.
A list of recommended steps for preventing identity theft and fraud is available online at facts.wakefern.com. Customers can reach the company’s customer care office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays by calling (800) 954-5210.