Skate Warehouse data breach: what happened and what to do
Skate Warehouse reported a hacking incident that began October 1, 2021 and exposed customers' names with payment card numbers and security codes. Reports put the total at about 1.8 million customers across four affiliated sites. Notices went out in December 2021.
View all 13,177 breaches- Breach date
- Oct 2021
- Made public
- 18 Dec 2021
- Data exposed
- Names, Credit cards
- Last updated
Reviewed by Anthon Wansland
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
What happened
Skate Warehouse is one of four affiliated online sports gear shops (with Tennis Warehouse) that reported the same card-theft incident. The California Attorney General's breach list shows a breach date of October 1, 2021 and a notice filed on December 18, 2021. A filing with the Maine Attorney General says the company found the problem on November 29, 2021 and mailed notices on December 16, 2021. It describes an external hacking incident. The notices don't describe how the attackers got in.
News coverage of the filings puts the total at about 1.8 million customers across the affiliated sites. That figure covers all of them, not Skate Warehouse alone.
Sources checked: oag.ca.gov, maine.gov, bitdefender.com.au
Last verified against the official page:
What was exposed
The Maine filing lists a name together with a payment card number and security code. Coverage of the incident also mentions financial account numbers and website account passwords, but the filing lists only the card data. A card number with its security code is enough to make purchases online until the card is replaced.
The company's response
The filing says no credit monitoring or identity theft protection was offered, and press coverage notes customers complained about that. If you shopped at Skate Warehouse in 2021 and got a letter, the card named in it is the one to deal with first.
What this means for you
Stolen card data is mostly used for fraudulent charges. Your Social Security number wasn't listed in the filing, so a credit freeze is a precaution rather than a response to this specific leak. A reused password is a different risk: if you used the same one elsewhere, change it there too.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Ask your card issuer about replacing the card
If you paid at Skate Warehouse around late 2021, call the number on the back of your card and ask about a new card number. The FTC says to report fraud you spot to your card issuer and at identitytheft.gov.
- 2
Read your statements line by line
Look for small test charges and anything you don't recognize, and dispute them with the issuer right away. Turn on transaction alerts in your bank's app if it offers them.
- 3
Change the password you used on the site
If you had an account there, change its password and any other account that shares it. Turn on two-factor login where it's offered.
- 4
Consider a credit freeze
The filing doesn't list identity numbers, so this is optional. The FTC says a freeze is free and you place it separately at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
- 5
Check whether your email or phone is in this and other breaches
Run a free Serus scan to see whether your details show up in known breaches. Serus monitors breach databases and the dark web and alerts you, but it can't remove data from a breach.
Official filings
- California Attorney General , filed 12 Apr 2022
- Washington Attorney General , filed 17 Dec 2021 : 8,655 people
Timeline
-
The breach happened
-
Reported to the Washington Attorney General
-
The company made it public
-
Reported to the California Attorney General
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the Skate Warehouse breach?
If you bought from Skate Warehouse in 2021 you may have been. Companies had to notify affected customers, so a letter or email from December 2021 is the best sign.
What was exposed?
The Maine Attorney General filing lists a name with a card number and security code. Passwords were mentioned in press coverage but not in the filing.
How many people were affected?
News coverage reports about 1.8 million customers across the four affiliated sites. The filings give no separate figure for each site.
Should I change my password?
Yes, if you had an account on the site and reused that password elsewhere. Use a unique password for each account.
Sources
- oag.ca.gov/privacy/databreach/list
- maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/5646791e-9065-46de-8721-6e5536f24853.shtml
- bitdefender.com.au/blog/hotforsecurity/hackers-steal-credit-cards-from-1-8-million-sports-gear-site-customers/
- itsecurityguru.org/2021/12/20/1-8-million-card-details-stolen-from-sporting-goods-sites/
- consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-credit-freezes-and-fraud-alerts
- identitytheft.gov/databreach
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it.