NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — UPS Stores across the country have been hit with a data breach may have been going on since January.

The UPS Store announced Wednesday that it had received a government bulletin about a broad-based malware intrusion. The breach affected 51 stores in 24 states, the UPS Store said.

In the Tri-State Area, the affected stores included one location at 420 S. Riverside Ave. in Croton-on-Hudson, and another at 1385 Highway 35 in Middletown, New Jersey.

Also affected were two upstate New York locations – at 2520 Vestal Pkwy. East in Vestal and at 2316 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo – and two southern New Jersey locations, at 1409 Marlton Pike Route 70 East in Cherry Hill and at 201 Strykers Rd. in Lopatcong.

In Connecticut, two Hartford County UPS Store locations were affected, at 35 E. Main St. in Avon and at 1131 Tolland Turnpike in Manchester.

The affected stores amounted to about 1 percent of the 4,470 franchised UPS Stores in the country, the UPS Store said.

Customers who used a credit or debit card at the affected stores between Jan. 20 and Aug. 11 may have been exposed, the UPS Store said. The breach was eliminated on Aug. 11, the UPS

“I understand this type of incident can be disruptive and cause frustration. I apologize for any anxiety this may have caused our customers. At The UPS Store, the trust of our customers is of utmost importance,” UPS Store president Tim Davis said in a news release. “As soon as we became aware of the potential malware intrusion, we deployed extensive resources to quickly address and eliminate this issue. Our customers can be assured that we have identified and fully contained the incident.”

Customer information that may have been exposed includes names, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and credit or debit card information, the news release said. Not all of the information was necessarily exposed by every customer, the news release said.

For further information about the breach and complimentary identity protection and monitoring services, the UPS asks customers to visit https://theupsstore.allclearid.com, or call (855) 731-6016.

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