Police investigate stolen debit card info

Thousands of customers of at least five financial institutions serving the Colorado Springs area have had their debit card numbers stolen through an unidentified local merchant, Colorado Springs police confirmed Thursday.

Ent Federal Credit Union, southern Colorado’s largest financial institution, began notifying between 1,500 and 1,700 cardholders last weekend that their card numbers had been compromised and about 150 had fraudulent transactions posted to their accounts, said Dana Chippindale, an Ent spokeswoman.

Ent has replaced about 400 cards at customers’ request and notified customers by telephone after a contractor that tracks debit card usage detected fraudulent activity, she said.

Police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock said “thousands” of customers at five financial institutions operating in the Springs area were victims of the theft, but added police are still “putting together what went wrong in this situation.”

John Worthington, a spokesman for Security Service Federal Credit Union in San Antonio, said about 200 cards issued to its Springs area customers were affected.

Karin Kovalovsky, a spokeswoman for Air Academy Federal Credit Union, said the security breach occurred at a local merchant she declined to identify and affected fewer than 100 cardholders at the credit union.

Under federal law, customers are not liable for fraudulent transactions on debit cards if they are reported within 60 days of the first statement on which the charges appear.

Whitlock declined to name the two other financial institutions involved in the theft, citing the investigation.