Barnes and Noble Credit Card Breach Includes Stores in Illinois

A security breach at dozens of Barnes and Noble stores nationwide does include Illinois.  Federal authorities are investigating after hackers were able to break into the PIN keypads containing customers' credit and debit card numbers and personal information. As many as seven Illinois stores were affected.

Barnes & Noble discovered the breach Sept. 14 and disconnected all the PIN pads at its stores. Online purchases and NOOK apps weren't affected, but the company said 63 stores were targeted in nine states, including Illinois. Stores in California, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island also were affected.

The Illinois stores are located at: 1441 W. Webster Ave. in Chicago, 1130 N. State St. in Chicago, 5380 Route 14 in Crystal Lake, 20600 N. Rand Road in Deer Park, 728 N. Waukegan Road in Deerfield, 1630 Sherman Ave. in Evanston and 1468 Springhill Mall Blvd. in West Dundee.

The company said customers should look for unauthorized transactions and, as a precaution, change the PIN number on their credit or debit card. Barnes & Noble said the company is now using a secure process  that it's safe to use credit and debit cards at all stores.