Hackers attack Walmart accounts, resulting in unauthorized charges to shoppers

There have been many reports of hackers gaining access to Walmart Spark accounts, resulting in many customers having unauthorized payments linked to walmart.com.

>>> JAX LIVE NEWS ACTION STREAM <<

(DOWNLOAD: Action News Jax’s free app for breaking news alerts)

Action News Jax reporter Nicholas Brooks was the victim of this attack.

Like many others, Brooks was forced to cancel his bank card after seeing a charge he hadn’t made. Here’s what happened.

He received a notification from my bank on January 13th.

It said he made a $528.04 purchase at Walmart.com. He followed the link and went directly to his Walmart account. When he checked his bank account, there was a pending charge of $528.04.

He immediately contacted his bank to dispute the charge and begin the process of replacing his debit card.

We later learned that this was part of a larger security issue at Walmart, where hackers reportedly gained access to over a hundred Spark accounts.

He spoke with Eric Franklin, a cybersecurity expert at The Scarlet Group, who confirmed that the steps he took were correct.

“You did exactly what any average consumer should have done,” Franklin said.

Franklin explained that some customers don’t realize they’ve been hacked for days or even months.

“There’s an even better step that you’ve taken, which is setting up alerts with your bank to make sure that every time a purchase is made with that debit card, you’re notified,” he said.

“Regionbank” published a statement in which it is said,

“Banks are working closely with their retail security team to try to find ways to mitigate this type of threat,” said American Bankers Association executive vice president for risk, fraud and cybersecurity Paul Benda.

This hack targets not only your bank card, but any card linked to your Walmart account. Benda gave the following advice.

“It’s very easy for people to just track their bills and keep a close eye on their statements,” he said.

We reached out to Walmart for comment but did not hear back by the time this story aired.

(REGISTER: Action News Jax Daily Headlines newsletter)

Click here to download Action News Jax free news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.