January 28, 2014 - Art and craft retailer Michaels has been the victim of a cyber attack that may have accessed some customer information, becoming the latest company to be impacted in a spate of attempted data thefts.

Authorities are looking into the breach and attempting to ascertain the extent of the attack and the amount of customer data that was affected.

Michaels chief executive Chuck Rubin said the Texas-based firm believes "it is in the best interest of our customers to alert them to this potential issue so they can take steps to protect themselves".

Customers have been urged to review their payment card statements for unauthorised charges as soon as possible.

The number of people affected by the attack and the way hackers accessed the retailer's systems have not yet been disclosed.

If hackers have accessed the personal information of customers, the firm will be the third in recent weeks to have been a victim of cyber attacks, following Neiman Marcus and Target.

In the previous attacks, which are thought to have impacted around 112 million customers, hackers gained access to the companies' payment systems.