Goodwill of Southern Nevada not impacted by potential security breach

From staff and wire reports

Wednesday, July 23, 2014 | 11:20 a.m.

Goodwill of Southern Nevada says it is not among the Goodwills involved in a potential security breach.

Goodwill Industries Inc. said it was contacted Friday by a payment card industry fraud investigative unit and federal authorities who said payment card numbers may have been stolen from some U.S. stores. Goodwill said it is working with credit card makers, the Secret Service and fraud investigators to figure out if a breach occurred, but so far none has been discovered.

Goodwill of Southern Nevada uses a different credit card processing vendor than the Goodwills that may have been affected, according to a statement issued today. It also has an in-house information technology department that oversees security at its 14 retail stores and clearance centers in Southern Nevada, the statement said.

Because Goodwill Industries Inc.’s stores are operated by about 165 regional headquarters around the country, there is no centralized database of all of its customers’ credit card information. That could limit a breach, if one occurred, to certain Goodwill locations.

The Rockville, Maryland-based organization operates more than 2,900 stores and takes in annual retail sales of $3.79 billion. It sells donated merchandise to fund job programs.

The investigation follows a spate of high-profile data breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and other retailers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.