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Yes. PulseTV disclosed a payment-card incident that potentially affected customers who shopped through its website. Maine’s later supplemental notice put the total at 227,769 people—revising the approximately 201,000 reported in the initial notice—and said malware on a webserver hosted and maintained by vendor Freestyle Solutions captured customer card data. The notices describe data that may have been compromised, not proof that every affected customer’s information was misused.
How many people were affected?
The reported total changed as the investigation developed. Maine’s initial filing listed approximately 201,000 people overall. Its 2022 supplemental notice later reported 227,769 people overall. These are figures from different notice stages; the later number is the revised total, not a separate incident.
Maine’s supplemental filing listed 753 Maine residents for the original incident period and 127 Maine residents for the newly identified September 1, 2021–February 2, 2022 period. These state-specific counts should not be added to the nationwide total.
What information may have been exposed?
The notices said potentially involved information included payment-card numbers, expiration dates and security codes, as well as names, addresses and email addresses. The filings classify the incident as involving personal identifiers combined with financial-account or payment-card information and a security or access code.
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That description does not establish that every person in the affected count had every listed field exposed, or that every card was used fraudulently. The incident notices describe potential compromise.
When did the incident happen?
The reported period expanded as investigators identified additional activity. California’s notice records an initial period of November 1, 2019 through August 31, 2021. Maine’s later supplemental notice extended the potential compromise period through February 2, 2022.
| Date | What the notices or contemporaneous reporting said |
|---|---|
| March 2021 | According to PulseTV’s notice as summarized by SecurityWeek, Visa alerted the company to suspicious activity. PulseTV said scans and other checks did not find an ongoing compromise at that point. |
| Fall 2021 | SecurityWeek reported that law enforcement later notified PulseTV of additional card compromises that appeared to originate from its website. In late November, an investigation identified the site as a common point of purchase for unauthorized Mastercard transactions. |
| December 2, 2021 | Maine’s initial filing listed this as the discovery date and said the cause could not then be confirmed. |
| December 30, 2021 | Initial written notices were reported. Maine’s original filing listed approximately 201,000 people overall and 730 Maine residents. |
| January 2022 | Maine’s supplemental notice updated the Maine count to 753 after identifying people who had moved to the state. SecurityWeek published its report on January 3. |
| February 2, 2022 | The later investigation identified malware on a webserver hosted and maintained by Freestyle Solutions. Maine’s supplemental notice said it captured customer card data and saved it to a file on the vendor’s systems. |
| February 15, 2022 | Maine’s filing said a PCI-DSS forensic investigator confirmed that the potential compromise period ended February 2. |
| March 15–17, 2022 | Maine’s supplemental filing recorded another round of written notifications and reported 227,769 people overall. |
What did investigators conclude?
The initial notices reflected uncertainty: the cause could not be confirmed from the information then available. PulseTV’s notice, quoted by SecurityWeek, said, “The investigation was unable to verify that the website was the cause of the unauthorized transactions.”
The later Maine notice added a more specific finding: investigators identified malware on the vendor-hosted webserver, and the filing said the malware captured customer card data and saved it on Freestyle Solutions’ systems. These findings describe how the investigation developed; they should not be collapsed into a claim that the cause was established at the outset.
What should a PulseTV customer do?
If you bought from PulseTV during the reported period, use any notice you received to determine whether you were included and what information may have been involved. The reviewed filings say identity-theft protection services were not offered to affected customers.
- Review payment-card and bank statements for transactions you do not recognize. Contact the card issuer promptly if you spot suspicious activity; the issuer can advise whether to replace the card or take other account-protection steps.
- Use the phone number or other contact information on the back of your card or on the issuer’s official website, rather than links in an unexpected message.
- Be alert for messages claiming to be about the incident that ask for passwords, card details or payment. Do not provide sensitive information in response to an unsolicited request.
PulseTV’s current privacy page lists a personal-information request form and privacy contact, but those are current policy details and may change. Its published security statement describes general safeguards; it does not establish which specific controls were in place during the historical incident. SecurityWeek reported that in January 2022 PulseTV described adding two-factor authentication on internal devices, using endpoint detection and response tools, and migrating to a different payment system. Those are measures reported at that time, not independently verified current controls.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does this establish a later PulseTV breach?
The notices and reporting covered here document the incident and follow-up through 2022. They do not establish whether PulseTV disclosed a distinct breach after that period.
Sources: SecurityWeek’s January 3, 2022 report; California Attorney General breach notice; Maine Attorney General initial notice; Maine Attorney General supplemental notice; PulseTV privacy and security page.
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