Why hackers want your Starbucks account

Your Starbucks account is like catnip for hackers. In the past few days, the longstanding problem has become a story again, after a blog post by American journalist Bob Sullivan, was widely picked up.

He writes:

Criminals are using Starbucks accounts to access consumers’ linked credit cards. Taking advantage of the Starbucks auto-reload function, they can steal hundreds of dollars in a matter of minutes. Because the crime is so simple, can escalate quickly, and the consumer protections controlling the transaction are unclear, I recommend all Starbucks consumers immediately disable auto-reload on the Starbucks mobile payments and gift cards.

The fraud is a big deal because Starbucks mobile payments are a big deal. Last year, Starbucks said it processed $2 billion in mobile payment transactions, and about 1 in 6 transactions at Starbucks are conducted with the Starbucks app.

The story quotes several customers who have had significant amounts of money taken using the trick. A quick Twitter search reveals it’s a common predicament.