JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than 100 VyStar Credit Union customers' bank accounts have been compromised, and VyStar isn't the only bank reporting these problems.
Jacksonville police say other financial institutions could also be affected.
VyStar CEO Rich Alfirevic said the one common denominator among all his banking customers is, they all shopped at Home Depot recently. Home Depot is experiencing the same problems that other big retailers like Target have faced -- credit card fraud.
Alfirevic said all of his banking customers have reported unauthorized credit card transactions at Home Depot stores across a 17-county area in northeast Florida.
"We believe it might be associated with the Home Depot breach, and they confirmed they have a breach nationwide that could have affected 60 million card members that they took April through September," Alfirevic said.
He said in this case, only information visible on the cards was taken, so no social security numbers or addresses were compromised. He also said it's not just Duval and Clay county customers who were affected.
Alfirevic said he's sure more reports will come in to VyStar's offices before the week is out, but his company is working to fully refund customers who have been affected.
Police said VyStar isn't the only bank affected by this data breach. They said it's too early to identify the other financial institutions, but economics crimes detectives are working with the Secret Service. They also encourage everyone to check their bank accounts.
"People's information has been leaked. We don't know how at this point," JSO spokeswoman Melissa Bujeda said. "This is the very early stages of this investigation."
Police did release a picture of a person of interest in the case, but his role in the investigation remains unclear. The person is described as a black man about 30 years old with facial hair and possibly driving a burgundy minivan.
"I got scared and went and looked online and looked at my bank account and made sure there was nothing I didn't do," VyStar customer Diane Flanagan said. "I think it's horrible people steal from honest, hard-working people."
Flanagan and others at the Riverside VyStar are double checking their balances to make sure they haven't been wiped out.
"I'm definitely going to check my account when I get home," VyStar customer Matthew McGregor said. "I'm going to change my passwords and information to stay one step ahead of those trying to steal someone's identity."
Another retail customer, Julie, who asked that we not use her last name, told News4Jax she refuses to fall victim to such a hack.
"I have frozen my credit with all credit reporting agencies, so no credit could be opened in my name without my authorization," Julie said.
Other customers said they might quit using debit cards and credit cards altogether.
Anyone who has any information on the man's identity or location is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.