NEW YORK — Saks Fifth Avenue said Friday that its network and systems weren’t compromised when six employees at its Fifth Avenue flagship here allegedly stole customers’ credit-card information and used it to purchase more than $400,000 worth of shoes, handbags and other merchandise.
“All customers have been notified, and their accounts have been restored,” Saks said. “The incident involved several retailers, and there was no compromise to the security of Saks Fifth Avenue’s networks or systems.”
Saks said it was cooperating with authorities handling the matter and would have no further comment.
The six employees, led by so-called “ring leader” Tamara Williams, were arrested earlier this week. According to the complaint obtained from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the defendants used the credit-card information of 22 Saks customers to make purchases, beginning in mid-May and stretching until Sept 5.
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The amounts charged ranged from more than $1,000 to, on Aug. 29, a charge of more than $44,000 that included over 90 transactions. On several occasions, the complaint said, the suspects, who haven’t yet been charged, returned to the store merchandise purchased under the fraudulent scheme and had amounts credited to the stolen accounts.
Williams and Kris Rockson face charges including second- and fourth-degree grand larceny and first- and second-degree identity theft. Four other Saks associates — Jason Chance, Alaia Harrison, Michael Knight and Michael Assante — were charged separately.
According to the complaint, when executing a search warrant at a location in Queens where Williams was present, the police recovered more than 100 boxes of shoes “as well as many boxes of handbags and other merchandise, some of which was packaged in containers bearing the logo and/or tags of Saks Fifth Avenue.” At least 34 of the items seized contained product information, such as sku numbers, matching transactions made on the hacked accounts.