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Court papers: Staples hack used to issue millions in gift cards
404 Media, citing an unsealed search-warrant application, said hackers accessed Staples' internal Nexus system and issued more than 15,000 gift cards worth over $5 million.
404 Media reported Sunday that an unsealed Homeland Security Investigations search-warrant application describes a 2023 intrusion at Staples in which attackers issued more than 15,000 gift cards worth more than $5 million1.
The warrant, unsealed last week, does not name the victim, 404 Media said1. The outlet identified the company as Staples because the document describes a Massachusetts-based office-supply firm that uses Blackhawk Network to fulfill gift-card orders and an internal customer-support system called Nexus, details it said match Staples1. Staples did not respond to the outlet's requests for comment1.
According to the warrant as summarized by 404 Media, Staples believed Nexus was reachable only from internal computers, but attackers reached it from outside1. They made multiple heap-dump requests to capture data in the application's memory, then hijacked sessions of logged-in customer-service representatives to issue the cards, the document said1. The cards were sent to email accounts the attackers controlled1.
Members of the group then spent many of the cards on electronics at retailers including Target, the warrant said1. Target told investigators that, across two days, about 3,850 gift cards worth about $141,000 were used at 85 Target stores in 18 states, covering about 300 transactions1. Sephora reported about 330 cards worth about $58,600 redeemed online, and Lowe's reported about 450 cards totaling about $226,000 at more than 22 locations, according to the document1.
Investigators said the group ultimately redeemed about 4,630 of the Staples-issued cards, worth about $425,0001. 404 Media said the intrusion is tied to a previously announced federal prosecution: last April, the Justice Department said three Chinese nationals were sentenced in a fraudulent gift-card conspiracy that acquired more than $100 million worth of cards1. That announcement referred to hacking of U.S. companies but did not name Staples, the outlet said1.
404 Media said the warrant shows organized retail-theft groups using computer intrusions, not only in-store theft, and that some operations used warehouses to store merchandise, with electronics and other goods shipped to China1. Independent confirmation of Staples as the unnamed victim, and of the full loss figures, was not in the 404 Media account1.
