NEW YORK — Barnes & Noble Inc. said Wednesday that the tampering of devices used by customers to swipe credit and debit cards in 63 of its stores was a ‘‘sophisticated criminal effort’’ to steal information, and reiterated it’s working with federal law enforcement authorities.

The nation’s largest bookseller late Tuesday disclosed the data breach in stores in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, and warned customers to check for unauthorized transactions and to change their personal identification numbers, or PINs.