Vera Bradley Hack Could Have Impacted La Jolla Store

Vera Bradley, a retailer known for its colorful quilted handbags, announced this week that payment cards used at its retail stores over the summer were potentially hacked.

A company statement said store locations between July 25 and Sept. 23 may have been affected by the breech. However, not all cards used during this time frame were impacted and cards used on the retailers website were not been affected, according the company.

Vera Bradley has one retail store in the San Diego area at Westfield UTC on La Jolla Village Drive.

The company said it was notified by law enforcement of the potential data-security issue on Sept. 15.

An investigation revealed the installation of a program designed to track data in the magnetic stripe of a payment card -- which could contain the card number, cardholder name, expiration date and verification code, according to the company.

Vera Bradley says it has stopped the data breach.

What Vera Bradley Says You Can Do

It is always advisable to remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud by reviewing your payment card statements for any unauthorized activity. You should immediately report any unauthorized charges to your card issuer because payment card rules generally provide that cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized charges reported in a timely manner. The phone number to call is usually on the back of your payment card.

Image via @beketchai/Flickr