2 arrested in connection with Target hack



By Tiffany Hsu, The Los Angeles Times

Authorities investigating the massive holiday-season hack into Target Corp.'s systems arrested two Mexicans trying to enter the U.S. in McAllen, Texas, with scores of fraudulent credit cards.


The arrests of Daniel Dominguez Guardiola and Mary Carmen Vaquera Garcia may indicate that stolen information from as many as 110 million Target customers is making its way through U.S. stores through small groups of shoppers with fraudulent cards.

Customs and Border Protection officers detained Guardiola, 28, and Garcia, 27, before turning them over to local authorities, McAllen Police Lt. Joel Morales said. Police had outstanding arrest warrants for Guardiola and Garcia alleging credit- and debit-card fraud.

The pair, both from Monterrey, Mexico, were found carrying 90 fraudulent payment cards, Morales said, and authorities eventually seized 22 more.

Morales said the connection to the Target hacking came from the U.S. Secret ServiceU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE; and banking institutions making cleanup efforts after the hack.

Target said last month that up to 40 million customers' credit and debit card accounts used for purchases at its stores nationwide were illegally accessed by cybercriminals from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15.

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