As a Best Buy Rewards Zone member, I regularly get email alerts and notifications regarding my account, offers and other stuff. Earlier today, I received a security alert email warning about a recent breach (unauthorized access) on Best Buy customer email addresses. As soon as I read it, I tried to know more about the incident and when I checked online, I found out that there were several other retailers and banks aside from Best Buy that were hit by this email breach.

Over the weekend, Epsilon, the online marketing company who handles the email marketing of Best Buy and companies like TiVo, JPMorgan Chase, Walgreens, Capital One, Marriott, Home Shopping Network, etc. was hit by hackers who accessed customer names and email addresses.

Here’s the email I received from Best Buy:

Dear Valued Best Buy Customer,

On March 31, we were informed by Epsilon, a company we use to send emails to our customers, that files containing the email addresses of some Best Buy customers were accessed without authorization.

We have been assured by Epsilon that the only information that may have been obtained was your email address and that the accessed files did not include any other information. A rigorous assessment by Epsilon determined that no other information is at risk. We are actively investigating to confirm this.

For your security, however, we wanted to call this matter to your attention. We ask that you remain alert to any unusual or suspicious emails. As our experts at Geek Squad would tell you, be very cautious when opening links or attachments from unknown senders.

In keeping with best industry security practices, Best Buy will never ask you to provide or confirm any information, including credit card numbers, unless you are on our secure e-commerce site, www.bestbuy.com. If you receive an email asking for personal information, delete it. It did not come from Best Buy.

Our service provider has reported this incident to the appropriate authorities.

We regret this has taken place and for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We take your privacy very seriously, and we will continue to work diligently to protect your personal information. For more information on keeping your data safe, please visit:

http://www.geeksquad.com/do-it-yourself/tech-tip/six-steps-to-keeping-your-data-safe.aspx.

Sincerely,

Barry Judge
Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
Best Buy

and here’s the official announcement from the Epsilon website:

On March 30th, an incident was detected where a subset of Epsilon clients’ customer data were exposed by an unauthorized entry into Epsilon’s email system. The information that was obtained was limited to email addresses and/or customer names only. A rigorous assessment determined that no other personal identifiable information associated with those names was at risk. A full investigation is currently underway.

Complete list of companies affected by the email breach at Epsilon:

• Ameriprise Financial
• Best Buy
• Brookstone
• Capital One
• Citi
• Disney Destinations
• Home Shopping Network
• JPMorgan Chase
• Kroger
• LL Bean Visa Card
• Marriott Rewards
• McKinsey & Company
• New York & Company
• Ritz-Carlton Rewards
• TiVo
• The College Board
• US Bank

Epsilon and the companies involved in this incident all say that the only information accessed by the hackers were customer names and/or their email addresses and I hope it’s true. Anyways, If you’re a Best Buy Rewards Zone member or any of the companies listed above, make sure to monitor your email account and keep an eye on emails you receive. Never give out personal information like your home address, social security number, credit card number, etc. and never download email attachments or open links from unknown senders. Better safe than sorry!

Anyone else receive the same email from Best Buy or from any of the companies listed above?

Looking to snag a FREE iPhone 3GS? Then you should go to Best Buy tomorrow, Friday December 10th. According to Boy Genius Report’s sources, popular consumer electronics retailer Best Buy will have a one-day special offering the Apple iPhone 3GS for FREE.

Best Buy Mobile’s FREE iPhone 3GS offer is open to everyone who will open a new AT&T account, add additional lines or those who are qualified for phone upgrades. Customers who qualify for this offer will receive a 8GB iPhone 3GS.

I know Boy Genius Report’s sources are credible but I’m not 100% sure whether this offer will available tomorrow. Nevertheless, it’s a very good offer and there’s no harm in trying. Btw, I checked on the Best Buy Mobile page just before I published this post and the 8GB iPhone 3GS is still priced at $99.99. Maybe they won’t show the offer until tomorrow, so if you’re interested just check the website again tomorrow or better, go visit your local Best Buy store.

Anyone planning on going to Best Buy tomorrow to get a FREE 8GB iPhone 3GS?

[via Boy Genius Report]

The Nexus S will be released as “factory unlocked“, meaning users can use it with any compatible GSM network like AT&T here in the U.S. However, it only supports T-Mobile’s U.S. 3G frequencies so if you decide to use it with AT&T’s network, the device can only make use of the 2.5G EDGE network instead of 3G.

Tech Specs:

• Quad-band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 190; Tri-band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700
• 1GHz Cortex A8-based Hummingbird processor
• 16GB iNAND flash memory
• 4-inch WVGA (Super AMOLED) touchscreen
• 5 megapixel camera & front-facing VGA camera
• # Wi-Fi 802.11 n/b/g
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• Near Field Communication (NFC) support
• Integrated VoIP/SIP support
• Dimensions: 63mm x 123.9mm x 10.88mm
• Weight: 129g

Product Photos:

Nexus S demo video

One of the interesting features on the Nexus S is the Near Field Communication (NFC) support which turns the phone into an electronic payment tool or credit card and enables the phone to be swiped over at the checkout counter. Another cool Nexus S feature is the built-in ability to function as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 6 mobile devices like laptops, netbooks or tablets. Aside from those features, the Nexus S also supports Internet phone calls (VoIP/SIP), video chat and a gyroscope sensor for gaming.

The Nexus S will be available on Best Buy stores starting December 16th and will retail for $199 with a 2-year T-Mobile contract or $529 for a no contract version. It will also be available in the U.K. via Carphone Warehouse on December 20th for £549.

What do you think of Google’s newest high-end Android smartphone, the Nexus S? Can it compete with other smartphones like the Galaxy S, HTC Evo or iPhone 4? Please share your thoughts.

That’s what Jim Rittenberg got last Thanksgiving weekend. He and his wife went to Best Buy to purchase a $1,600 Sony video camcorder but instead found a jar of Classico pasta sauce (which weighed as much as the actual camcorder), a telephone cord and an eletric outlet cover inside the sealed box.

First thing the couple did was to go back to the store and have it exchanged. But since the box was sealed, the management didn’t accept it.

A strange story but I guess this reminds us to be careful and check any merchandise we buy before bringing them home. When I buy stuff, especially gadgets or electronics, I tell the sales person that I would like to see the merchandise and have the box opened in front of me.

Read the full news story here.