Discount retail chain Dollar Tree has denied being the target of a recent cyberattack, following claims by a ransomware group that it stole sensitive company files. According to Dollar Tree, the data allegedly leaked online does not belong to them but appears to be from a completely different company.
The hacking group, which calls itself “INC Ransom,” listed Dollar Tree on its dark web site, stating it had stolen over one terabyte of confidential information, including personal documents such as scanned passports. The group even shared a sample of the files and quoted an old Dollar Tree press release to suggest it had access to internal information.
However, Dollar Tree has firmly denied being hacked. Company officials say the data actually comes from 99 Cents Only, a separate discount chain that went out of business earlier this year.
What really happened?
99 Cents Only, once a popular budget retailer, filed for bankruptcy in April 2024. Rising costs, pandemic aftereffects, and increasing theft were cited among the reasons for its financial collapse. By mid-2024, all 371 of its stores were shut down and assets liquidated.
Dollar Tree later acquired rights to 170 of these store locations, along with their U.S. and Canadian web domains and some store equipment. But according to Dollar Tree, they never purchased the company's internal data, networks, or systems.
A Dollar Tree spokesperson clarified the situation:
"The files mentioned in these cyberattack claims appear to be linked to former employees of 99 Cents Only. Dollar Tree only acquired certain real estate leases and select assets not their data or technology infrastructure. Any suggestion that we were breached is simply not true."
Because 99 Cents Only is no longer operational, its customer support lines and emails are inactive, making it difficult to get an official response from the company itself.
Is Dollar Tree affected?
Dollar Tree says there’s no indication its own systems were accessed or compromised. The company remains one of the largest and most profitable players in the U.S. discount retail sector, reporting over $17 billion in sales last year.
While the ransomware group has not clarified the confusion, cybersecurity experts suggest the mix-up may stem from Dollar Tree’s acquisition of 99 Cents Only store leases, which may have led attackers or observers to wrongly associate the two companies.
This incident is a testament to how misleading information can spread quickly, especially when legacy data from bankrupt companies becomes part of a broader breach.
Dollar Tree is continuing to monitor the situation but insists there is no current threat to its systems or customer data.
