In the past year, I have had 2 cards hacked....on one, they were trying to buy plane tickets to Singapore....the more recent was a Facebook charge, and honestly, I did not even know you could buy anything on Facebook.

I know I was born in the wrong century. Was I the only person under 70 who was dubious when banks started talking about a cashless society? I just saw it as a trap.

Annie, I hope they caught it before your charge!!

Nancy

My sister got caught in this one -both her debit card AND credit card. She said she received a letter, though I'm not sure if it was from Target or the bank. Her debit account has been frozen temporarily. She's already received a new credit card fortunately.

Crap. We seldom shop there but we dropped by Target to buy employee Christmas cards for bonus checks on the 13th. Normally a cash purchase until I talked DH into purchasing a Shark vacuum for his work wife. Robert paid for the purchase while I visited the Ladies Room. I will ask him and call our bank.

Checked our online TGT. statement & it was OK. We had 3 purchases in that timeframe...

Faron

Already checked our statement by phone ....

....scared here ....

.... tried to contact the credit card company itself but phones are overwhelmed!!!

.....how to ruin the Holiday Season! :(

I think that if you shopped at Target during that time period you have to continually monitor your account. Your card number may be one of groups of thousands that criminals are working their way through and they may have not gotten to yours yet. Even if they catch the people who stole the data, most of the numbers are long gone by now.

My account is okay for now but I am tempted to go ahead and cancel it anyway. Unfortunately, it's the only one I use and I hate to be without a back up this time of year.

I had 2 debit transactions during that time frame. No suspicious activity yet but my bank still recommended getting a new debit card. I know 3 people already who have been 'hacked' - bet this is going to be way bigger than they are even saying at this point.

I made a purchase at Target on 12/3 with my debit card. Have cancelled and having a new one issues. Was assured by my bank that because I have notified them, if there are suspicious charges, etc. we are not liable. I specifically asked if someone with the info off my debit card could access our accounts online. Not without other info. But for my own peace of mind, I decided to transfer money from our main checking account to another checking account (we have 2 checking and 1 savings account at this bank) - which is not tied to the debit card. Was told to keep an eye on our account.

tina

I made a purchase at Target during the time frame as well. Like Deee said, it will be an on going issue because the thieves can use your account now or much later. Just to be save, I'm going to cancel my card today.

From what I understand, the info they obtained from the magnetic strip on your card is enough to steal your identity although it is a longer shot. So, everyone, make sure you keep an eye on your credit reports as well.

I don't know if this is true or not, but a friend of ours works for the Secret Service here in DC. He told dh yesterday that they already know who the individuals are...it's three youngish guys who don't even know each other. He said they (the hackers) didn't actually do anything with the information and the hackers don't even think they did anything wrong! More like they were just doing it for fun, kind of thing. IOW, they didn't do it with the intention of selling the information to people who would actually use the information. Like I said, that's what he told dh - hopefully that's the case. Thankfully, I haven't been to Target during that time frame, but what a nightmare for all the shoppers who have!

I shop at Target all the time and both DH and I were there many times during that span of time. I called my bank to see if we should just proactively get new debit cards (which is the only thing we use there). Bank said not necessary they are monitoring accounts - at which time I had to hang up to take another call so I didn't get the details on the monitoring.

I know they have called us in the past if there were "unusual" charges on our credit card, to verify that they were ours. I imagine they have some kind of sophisticated algorithm that analyzes what's typical and what's not.

I also monitor my bank account all the time on my phone so based on their advice and my practices I'll just carry on for now. So far there haven't been any bogus charges on my account.

Nobody that doesn't want to have to cancel or close their account. You can just request to get a new card with a new number and then your old one will be invalid.

I'm thankful I haven't shopped at Target in a long time for a change as I used to shop there a lot.

If you do nothing with your account as in ask for a new card with a different number then you'll need to keep monitoring it and check for fraudulent charges. This may not happen in the near future it could happen several months from now.

I hope what fourkids4us said is true as this seems very costly for a lot of companies and consumers.

I'm not freaking out over it. It's not a big deal to me, and worth the small inconvenience, to cancel our current debit card and get a new one.

I monitor our accounts anyway. It is so easy with online banking, I can't imagine not doing it.

I hope what 4kids said is true also. I have to say though, it really surprises me that someone working for the secret service would be spilling this info!

tina

This is one of the reasons that I never use a debit card at a store any more. I pay off my Visa in full every month, so I use that or cash. Your protection against fraud is much greater with a credit card rather than a debit card. All three of my adult kids have had fraudulent charges on their debit cards wiping out their accounts. The bank did eventually return the money to their accounts, but it can create all kinds of problems with bounced checks, etc. I also get more rewards points with my credit card.

Terriks, I do the same...I don't use a debit card. I feel better protected with my credit card as at least with a credit card, there is no access to my bank account or cash.

Tina, I doubt the information about the suspects is confidential or he wouldn't have told dh (this guy is just the parent of one of our son's friends, not a close friend who was discussing something in confidence with dh). This particular person is not involved with the investigation, but I'm sure information trickles down throughout the agency and if it were considered confidential, it wouldn't have been released to the staff, or like with any other big agency, it could just be rumor.

I was thinking back as to whether I'd even been at Target during this time, and I hadn't, but was just looking at my credit card statement to see if I'd been refunded yet for something I purchased online from Sam's Club. I noticed DH had actually purchased something while on a business trip in California...he must have totally forgotten b/c when he was telling me about the investigation last night and I said I hadn't been to Target lately, he said he hadn't either! Even though I monitor our account, and AMEX is very good about calling us to question anything suspicious, he is still going to cancel his card and have a new one sent. It's easy enough thankfully.

Whoops, looks like I got the story wrong! Just talked to dh and apparently I confused stories! There was a different hack that involved credit cards but they had actually targeted a few specific people and that was the one that involved some youngish, maybe college age, hackers. The Target one is totally different from what I indicated above and our friend hadn't said whether or not there were any suspects yet for that one. Sorry for the confusion and for spreading misinformation!

four kids - if you want, you can use the edit feature and correct your first post.

I don't normally shop at Target, but I went on Dec 17 to get a gift card for the Y's kids tree. Supposedly, I'm OK because it was past the 15th. They said to monitor my account but they will also get word if my account was breached.

Also thinking that Target knew about it on the 15th, but it took 4 days for them to come forward.

We no longer use debit cards at gas stations because we worry about skimmer devices.

It could have been something as easy as an employee at a Target processing facility that opened a phishing email...
How scary is that ?

As most of you may know~
Do not open emails from ANY delivery companies saying they are having difficulties delivering your pkg.
Or...
NO delivery company sends emails asking you to click on the attached link for your tracking number !!

We got caught in this one. Seldom shop at Target but both hubs and I used CC there, more than once. We cancelled our credit card and will be sent a new one. As others have said, it could be months before your number is used, so you do need to get a new card number.

It is a pain, as just last night I was going to puchase something online and the card I have used before is the one that is cancelled so I have to contact the places that have my card on record. I know that is not the smartest thing to do, but I have never had an issue with that end of it.

The day after Christmas last year, I got a call from our CC company that our number had been used both in NJ and CA at almost the same time - both for small amounts at drug stores like CVS. Then a few minutes later at Las Vegas to pay for a hotel room. It was caught at that time. Turns out it was a card we seldom use - only for places that do not take our "everyday card". The affected one was only used at Sams Club and at our local vets office. And, it hadn't been used in a couple of months. Had to be someone associated with Sams that hacked it and that was over 6 months before that we joined Sams Club.

So, do get a new card. Guess we got ours taken care of quick enough. We did not have trouble getting in touch with our company. We do not use debit cards at all so no problem there.

Four - no problem, I just thought it was funny that the SECRET service was leaking info!!

For those using cc's on-line, I only use one card on-line. I have it linked to Paypal and ALWAYS use paypal when available. I was told by one of the employees at our credit union that paypal is a very secure method of payment. Just a thought. As much as I love the convenience of my check card, I may just start using our rewards CC instead. We rarely write checks and I HATE doing that when out. I also do not carry much cash (or the checkbook and usually only 1 CC) with me. Years ago I had my wallet stolen, so I am more cautious now.

tina

I phoned our bank twice. Both times I was assured that we are fine. We are fine because he used the Debt card as a Debt so the security code wasn't read.

We have a small Bank and hope they are correct. They offered to send us a new card but kept saying none of their customers have been compromised.

Would you cancel and get a new card ?

Just one more reason to patronize small businesses and retailers....

Yes Goldie I would. Our card was used as a debit also. Our bank suggested the new card.

Begonia - I love to use small businesses, especially in our area, and I do, but it is not always possible.

tina

Can't find where I read this earlier today, but card can be made more secure by using chips that encrypt the data. These are used internationally. When we were in Canada a couple of years ago, the waitress said she knew we were Americans as soon as DH brought out his credit card because only Americans have that style now.

Apparently, there is a battle between the banks and retailers who should pay for this. The article said fraud costs the something like 5 cents out of every $100 they make so they are in no hurry to upgrade the cards.

Edited to show article link. It seems to be syndicated nationwide by this author Jonathan Fahey.

Here is a link that might be useful: Target breach was easy

This post was edited by gsciencechick on Mon, Dec 23, 13 at 7:38

Our CU emails us with info when there's any problem such as this one and calls us if anyone uses a card in a way that doesn't fit with our typical usage. We also have Life Lock since my hubby travels allot. An other important way to lifeguard your cards is to keep them in aluminum foil in your wallet.

Thieves made off with my card information too. The bank issued me a new card but with the same pin number as the stolen card. The only way they will let me change it is to physically go down to the bank. Thanks Target.