Hackers were able to breach more than 60 Barnes & Noble ( BKS ) stores , including locations in New York City , Miami , San Diego and Chicago , and obtain credit card information , according to a report from The New York Times . The information is believed to have been stolen from keypads at store registers where customers swipe their cards and enter their pin numbers . Customers who have used the company ’s website , mobile application and college bookstores were not affected by the breach , though . Barnes & Noble discovered that information had been stolen around September 14th , however the company has reportedly kept the matter under wraps at the request of the Justice Department so the FBI could investigate the attacks . ;