Hackers broke into the computer system at Conor O’Neill's Traditional Irish Pub in Ann Arbor and stole customers’ credit and debit card information and then used it to make purchases in Texas, police said.
The popular Irish pub on South Main Street called Ann Arbor police after local banks contacted the business and said the restaurant was the common point of purchase for several people whose credit or debit card numbers had been stolen, police said.
The fraudulent purchases were made between April 22 and June 10, said Sgt. Pat Hughes with the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Police said the restaurant’s credit card processing computer was vulnerable to computer hackers, possibly from Europe, but the problem has since been fixed. The number of people whose information was compromised has not been determined, Hughes said.
“There’s some pretty sophisticated computer hackers out there,” Hughes said. “They steal credit card numbers and then sell them on the black market to other criminals.” It’s likely the buyers of the stolen credit card numbers who used them to make purchases, he said.
Bank of Ann Arbor and Michigan Credit Union customers were among those whose credit card information was stolen, Hughes said, but the local banks' systems were not hacked.
Police are continuing to investigate the fraud in the communities where the fraudulent purchases were made, Hughes said.
Caroline Kaganov, general manager at the bar, told WDIV in Detroit that she was taken aback by the crime.
"We're a small, local business and we just don't imagine being targeted," Kaganov told the TV station.
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