Multiple banks say they are seeing evidence that Home Depot stores may be the source of a massive new batch of stolen credit and debit cards that went on sale this morning in the cybercrime underground. Home Depot says that it is working with banks and law enforcement agencies to investigate reports of suspicious activity. 
 
 Contacted by this reporter about information shared from several financial institutions, Home Depot spokesperson Paula Drake confirmed that the company is investigating. 
 
 “I can confirm we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate,” Drake said, reading from a prepared statement. “Protecting our customers’ information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers. If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately. Right now, for security reasons, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate further – but we will provide further information as soon as possible.” 
 
 There are signs that the perpetrators of this apparent breach may be the same group of Russian and Ukrainian hackers responsible for the data breaches at Target, Sally Beauty and P.F. Chang’s, among others. The banks contacted by this reporter all purchased their customers’ cards from the same underground store — rescator[dot]cc — which on Sept. 2 moved two massive new batches of stolen cards onto the market. 
 
 In what can only be interpreted as intended retribution for U.S. and European sanctions against Russia for its aggressive actions in Ukraine, this crime shop has named its newest batch of cards “American Sanctions.” Stolen cards issued by European banks that were used in compromised US store locations are being sold under a new batch of cards labled “European Sanctions.” 
 
 It is not clear at this time how many stores may have been impacted, but preliminary analysis indicates the breach may extend across all 2,200 Home Depot stores in the United States. Home Depot also operates some 287 stores outside the U.S. including in Canada, Guam, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. 
 
 This is likely to be a fast-moving story with several updates as more information becomes available. Stay tuned. 
 
 Update: 1:50 p.m. ET: Several banks contacted by this reporter said they believe this breach may extend back to late April or early May 2014. If that is accurate — and if even a majority of Home Depot stores were compromised — this breach could be many times larger than Target, which had 40 million credit and debit cards stolen over a three-week period. 
 
 Tags: Home Depot breach, home depot data breach, home depot databreach, P.F. Chang's data breach, Paula Drake, rescator, Sally Beauty data breach, target data breach 

 Did you just get your credit card replaced after the Great Target Fiasco of 2013? 
 
 Don’t get too used to that new card. It’s starting to look like it’s that time again. 
 
 Home Depot has confirmed that it’s investigating some “unusual activity” with regards to its customer data, and the consistently spot-on Brian Krebs is saying that it’s a credit card breach. According to Krebs, two “massive” batches of cards appeared on a credit card number seller site early this morning. 
 
 It’s unclear just how long the breach was in play — but Kreb’s early analysis of the credit card data suggests that its tentacles reached into the majority of Home Depot’s 2,200 stores, possibly going as far back April of this year. 
 
 So in other words: if you’ve used a credit card at Home Depot pretty much any time this year, it might be a good time to hop on the phone with your bank. 
 
 Home Depot’s stock dropped by over 2.5 percent with the news. 
 
 Here’s Home Depot’s official comment on the matter: 
 
 At this point, I can confirm that we’re looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate. Protecting our customers’ information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers. If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately. Right now, for security reasons, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate further. We will provide further information as soon as possible. 
 
 Hearing breach window of May '14-present. If true, Home Depot breach could be much larger than Target (40M cards stolen over 3 weeks) — briankrebs (@briankrebs) September 2, 2014 
 
 [Image via Mike Mozart on Flickr, used under creativecommons]
– If you shrugged off the recent celebrity hack of private photos, along with the massive Target breach last year, here's one more punch: Home Depot is investigating a potential breach of customer data from credit and debit cards, reports Reuters. The scoop originally came from Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, who reports that most if not all 2,200 US stores were affected and that the breach may go back to April of this year. If so, "this breach could be many times larger than Target, which had 40 million credit and debit cards stolen over a three-week period," he writes. Krebs, it should be noted, is "consistently spot-on," observes TechCrunch. The first hint of trouble surfaced when a big batch of stolen credit and debit cards went on sale in underground markets this morning, and banks quickly zeroed in on Home Depot as the probable source. Krebs thinks the hackers are the same Russian and Ukrainian group that hit Target; the new batch is named "American Sanctions," an apparent dig at the West's current friction with Vladimir Putin. Home Depot has not confirmed a breach, only that it is investigating "unusual activity," says a spokesperson. "If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately."