Starbucks App Falls Victim to Credit Card Fraud

This week, Starbucks customers have fallen victim to credit card fraud. Hundreds of dollars have been stolen from the Starbucks reload app users after they received a fraud email from the company claiming that their username and password had been changed. The app Starbucks reloads cards by automatically drawing from bank accounts, credit cards and Pay Pal.

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The scam is so ingenious that the criminals, after obtaining the login credentials, are accessing the Starbucks mobile reload accounts and adding new gift cards and transferring funds over without even knowing the account details of the people they are hacking.

It appears that only US customers are experiencing this problem as Starbucks customers with the reload app in Europe and anywhere outside North America have not seen any adverse effects.

The crime is so simple and has escalated quickly. The consumer protections controlling the transactions are very unclear. US Starbucks customers should consider disabling auto-reload on the Starbucks mobile payments and gift cards.

Starbucks has denied that their servers have been hacked stating that customers were experiencing credit card theft because of their lax security practice. Starbucks released a statement saying:

 “Starbucks takes the obligation to protect customers’ information seriously. News reports that the Starbucks mobile app has been hacked are false.
Like all major retailers, the company has safeguards in place to constantly monitor for fraudulent activity and works closely with financial institutions. To protect the integrity of these security measures, Starbucks will not disclose specific details but can assure customers their security is incredibly important and all concerns related to customer security are taken seriously.Occasionally, Starbucks receives reports from customers of unauthorized activity on their online account. This is primarily caused when criminals obtain reused names and passwords from other sites and attempt to apply that information to Starbucks. To protect their security, customers are encouraged to use different user names and passwords for different sites, especially those that keep financial information.If a customer believes their account has been subject tofraudulent activity, they are encouraged to contact both Starbucks and theirfinancial institution immediately. Customers are not responsible for charges ortransfers they did not make. If a customer’s Starbucks Card is registered,their account balance is protected.”

The fraud is a big deal as 1 in 6 Starbucks customers use the mobile app for transactions. Starbucks said it processed $2 billion in mobile payments last year.

Maria Nistri was victim to the reload credit card fraud last week at 7.11am on Wednesday when she received an automatic email saying her username and password had been changed. Within seven minutes, $34.77 had been loaded onto her Starbucks app, then another $25 and her card balance hit $0. “I don’t know why Starbucks would recommend people do auto-reload when this crime is so easy,” she said.

Jessica Smith 

Australian girl, Jessica is loving England but is missing the sunshine! She loves writing, dogs and plays hockey! Follow her @JessicaAtSMF

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