Credit information for some 240,000 subscribers of two Massachusetts newspapers was mistakenly included on paper used to wrap newspaper bundles.
Credit and bank card numbers were printed on wrappings used Sunday by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and delivered to 2,000 retailers and 390 carriers, the Boston Globe reported Tuesday. The information was from subscribers of both the Globe and the Telegram & Gazette. Both papers are owned by The News York Times Co. and share a computer system.
Newspaper officials said they are working with credit card companies and banks involved and a hotline has been set up for customers to see if their data were among those distributed. Most of the information was from Globe subscribers, the newspaper said.
Alfred Larkin, a spokesman for the Globe, said the incident was inadvertent and no employee discipline was expected. He said added precautions have been put in place to make sure such information is better protected.
He told the Globe, the Telegraph & Gazette recycles paper to wrap bundles of its newspaper and those used Sunday had the confidential information. A clerk at a Cumberland Farms store informed the newspapers of the problem.
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