Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
jon-nyc
Posts: 927
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:02 am
Location: New York

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by jon-nyc »

I just got this from Chase:
Dear Chase Customer:
We're reaching out to let you know what we're doing to help protect your account after the data breach announced by Target on some credit and debit cards used at Target stores between November 27 and December 15.

Here's what you should know:
All your Chase cards have our Zero Liability Protection. That means you're not liable for unauthorized transactions you report to us.

You don't need to call us at this time unless you see transactions you don't recognize. We're using our sophisticated fraud-monitoring tools to look for abnormal spending and ATM patterns. That helps us block fraudulent transactions.

We'll let you know if we see unusual activity on your account.

We'll send you a new card if we determine that's necessary.
Here's what you should do:
Continue using your Chase card.

Monitor your account -- including using chase.com or Chase Mobile -- and let us know if you see any transactions you don't recognize.

Enroll in our free Account Alerts* in the "Customer Center" section at chase.com and we'll let you know about specific activity in your account.
As always, thank you for your trust.
Sincerely,


Which is consistent with what I planned to do anyway. Still, its odd knowing that your card info, including the 3 digit CCV, has in fact been taken by a gang of crooks, and not automatically getting a new card. I guess because there are 40MM of us it seems that it'll most likely be a while, if ever, before someone tries to use MY card.

Still you wonder what the gang will do - sell them in lots of 10,000? It seems like once you have a few hundred good card numbers, you've hit diminishing returns. Unless you find some automated way of turning transactions into cash immediately, which I suppose the banks will be really looking out for.
mikep
Posts: 3856
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:27 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by mikep »

I'm going to do absolutely nothing. It's the bank's risk not mine as I don't have to pay for fraudulent charges. I don't care if the bank loses money. If I am proactive it only encourages lax security and the status quo.
Maybe this will lead to more discounts for cash, which there should be given what banks charge to process CCs. Maybe the banks will charge more to process CCs as fraud rises which will lead to cash discounts and eliminate CC waste from the system.
Have more than one card to use as backup is probably the best you can do.
User avatar
Sunny Sarkar
Posts: 2443
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:02 am
Location: Flower Mound, TX
Contact:

Re: Target credit card breach

Post by Sunny Sarkar »

nhrdls wrote:If you purchased anything at target between Nov. 29 and Dec. 15...
Oh boy - I do not usually shop at Target, but did get something small just once during that window. Changing to a new card number will be a pain due to the automatic bill payments charged to the card.
"Buy-and-hold, long-term, all-market-index strategies, implemented at rock-bottom cost, are the surest of all routes to the accumulation of wealth" - John C. Bogle
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: Target credit card breach

Post by VictoriaF »

Sunny Sarkar wrote:
nhrdls wrote:If you purchased anything at target between Nov. 29 and Dec. 15...
Oh boy - I do not usually shop at Target, but did get something small just once during that window. Changing to a new card number will be a pain due to the automatic bill payments charged to the card.
My sympathy, this is something I am dealing with now. And I have not even been to Target.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
User avatar
BrooklynInvest
Posts: 1183
Joined: Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:23 am

Re: Target credit card breach

Post by BrooklynInvest »

Not a Target shopper but just got hacked myself. No out of pocket costs but a rather embarrassing episode while christmas shopping.
texasdiver
Posts: 3937
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:50 am
Location: Vancouver WA

Re: Target credit card breach

Post by texasdiver »

NPR did an interesting story about how far behind we are in the US with respect to credit card technology and how the Europeans all put microchips in their cards that make them MUCH harder to copy and and steal. But they mentioned that the new Euro-cards with their high tech features only provide security for the physical use of the card and prevent the physical cloning of the card using the card number. They don't actually provide additional security for online shopping where much of the fraud occurs.

I think the real problem is that it is cheaper for big banks and big retailers to just eat the losses when this type of fraud occurs than to actually spend the billions it would take to re-engineer all the cards and all the POS credit card terminals to accommodate higher tech cards. And so we pay the price when our cards get hacked through no fault of our own, both in terms of the time and hassle required to change card numbers and in terms of all the fraudulent purchases that consumers don't actually catch (of which I but there is a HUGE amount).

Seems to me that the only solutions are: (1) something like mass actions by consumers such as a huge class action lawsuit against Target that will start forcing them and other merchants to get more serious about investing in security, or (2) action by the government to force banks and merchants to modernize. I'm not holding out hope for either to happen.
User avatar
tfb
Posts: 8397
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:46 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by tfb »

jon-nyc wrote:Still, its odd knowing that your card info, including the 3 digit CCV, has in fact been taken by a gang of crooks, and not automatically getting a new card.
The 3-digit security code printed on the card (CVV2) has not been taken. It's not on the magnetic stripe. You don't enter it into the card terminal. There is a CVV1 on the magnetic stripe. It's not the same as the 3-digit CVV2 code you are asked to provide when you buy online.
Harry Sit has left the forums.
User avatar
tfb
Posts: 8397
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:46 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by tfb »

1210sda wrote:I too have my debit card (Red card) linked to my WellsFargo acct.
RED card debit card requires a PIN. PINs weren't stolen. Nothing to worry about.
Harry Sit has left the forums.
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Mudpuppy »

1210sda wrote:
Delayed Gratification wrote:Appreciate the replies. Since mine was a debit card, I'm going to call Wells Fargo and request a new number for our debit cards. It seems like the likelihood for us to be one of the 40 million is low, but I'm going to play it cautious. If it was a credit card it'd be different.

Thanks again, DG
DG, I too have my debit card (Red card) linked to my WellsFargo acct.

I would be interested in what WF has to say.
What they should be saying is something along the lines of "Target uses your account number and routing number, not your Wells Fargo ATM number. Changing your Wells Fargo ATM card will not help."

What they will probably say is "sure, no problem" because it's easier to reissue the ATM card than to explain why changing the ATM card won't help.

Target debit RedCards convert the debit transaction at the register into an ACH transaction against your bank account on Target's back-end servers. So the information stolen off the magnetic stripe only can reach your bank account if it can get through Target's back-end servers. I think it's pretty safe to say at this point that Target won't let that happen, even if the hackers did have the PINs (and all indications are that they don't have the PINs).

However, if you want to prevent potential Target debit RedCard fraud on the bank side, you have to ask the bank to reject all Target ACH requests. That's how the Target debit RedCard transactions appear to your bank. It has nothing to do with your bank-issued ATM card.
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Mudpuppy »

jon-nyc wrote:Which is consistent with what I planned to do anyway. Still, its odd knowing that your card info, including the 3 digit CCV, has in fact been taken by a gang of crooks, and not automatically getting a new card. I guess because there are 40MM of us it seems that it'll most likely be a while, if ever, before someone tries to use MY card.

Still you wonder what the gang will do - sell them in lots of 10,000? It seems like once you have a few hundred good card numbers, you've hit diminishing returns. Unless you find some automated way of turning transactions into cash immediately, which I suppose the banks will be really looking out for.
1) The 3 digit CCV on the back of the card (or 4 digit on the front of the card for AmEx) was NOT stolen. That is the CCV2 number, and it is not stored on the magnetic stripe. What was taken is the CCV1 number, which is stored on the magnetic stripe and is only used by back-end software to differentiate from "card-swiped-at-register" purchases and purchases where the card number is entered manually.

2) The card information is already being sold on the black market, fetching upwards of $30 per number. The main site selling them earlier in the week allowed people to search through and select which profile of numbers they wanted to buy (e.g. you could buy just numbers from Los Angeles or even just numbers from Chase customers in Los Angeles). Some of the larger banks actually purchased a subset of their own numbers listed on the black market website to verify that the numbers were all used at Target during the time period in question. That site is down now, but surely another will pop up in its wake.

Finally, if you want to get accurate information about this breach, stop listening to mainstream media. They have messed up so many details (like confusing CCV1 with CCV2) and overblown so many implications that it's no better than listening to a tabloid anymore. Brian Krebs is the security researcher who broke the story, and his website will likely remain one of the best sources of information (as he has been for many skimming attacks in the past):

http://krebsonsecurity.com/
User avatar
tfb
Posts: 8397
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:46 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by tfb »

Mudpuppy wrote:Finally, if you want to get accurate information about this breach, stop listening to mainstream media. They have messed up so many details (like confusing CCV1 with CCV2) and overblown so many implications that it's no better than listening to a tabloid anymore.
Exactly! The mainstream media are experts in appealing to people's emotions though. They know the average consumers don't have the patience for details like CCV1 versus CCV2, card number versus PIN, etc.
Harry Sit has left the forums.
User avatar
abuss368
Posts: 27850
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: Where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players!
Contact:

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by abuss368 »

I have been monitoring our credit card. Knock on wood, so far so good.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
Gleevec
Posts: 346
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:25 am

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Gleevec »

Is it possible to cancel the debit card portion of my ATM/debit card (e.g. Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo) to make it just an ATM card?
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Mudpuppy »

Gleevec wrote:Is it possible to cancel the debit card portion of my ATM/debit card (e.g. Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo) to make it just an ATM card?
Technically possible yes, but it wouldn't help with this particular compromise. And it all depends on the policy at the bank as to whether they would cut just an ATM card instead of a check card.

And in general, ATM skimmers can be just as problematic as point-of-sale skimmers. The ATM skimmers also usually have some camera to capture the PIN. Read through the archives on Brian Krebs' page to see what I mean. So having just an ATM card would not protect you from similar attacks in the future.
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Target credit card breach

Post by Mudpuppy »

There's already a thread on this under the Personal Finance area: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 2&t=128666
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95696
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by LadyGeek »

^^^ FYI - I merged a similar thread (which was in the Personal Consumer Issues forum) into here, which is in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum.

The topic crosses both security and personal finance, so I'm going with the earlier thread. You can tell each thread by the post's title of "Target credit card breach" or "Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?."
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95696
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by LadyGeek »

Mudpuppy wrote:
Gleevec wrote:Is it possible to cancel the debit card portion of my ATM/debit card (e.g. Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo) to make it just an ATM card?
Technically possible yes, but it wouldn't help with this particular compromise. And it all depends on the policy at the bank as to whether they would cut just an ATM card instead of a check card.

And in general, ATM skimmers can be just as problematic as point-of-sale skimmers. The ATM skimmers also usually have some camera to capture the PIN. Read through the archives on Brian Krebs' page to see what I mean. So having just an ATM card would not protect you from similar attacks in the future.
Here's one article: The Biggest Skimmers of All: Fake ATMs — Krebs on Security

Posted earlier in the thread (now merged): Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets — Krebs on Security
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
likegarden
Posts: 3181
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 4:33 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by likegarden »

My short message seems to have been lost here. We also had bought from Target the last 3 weeks. But when we cancelled our credit card with Capital One we were told it would take them from 10-14 days to get us a new one (new CC number). In the mean time our old one is cancelled, so we will live via cash and checks.
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Mudpuppy »

likegarden wrote:My short message seems to have been lost here. We also had bought from Target the last 3 weeks. But when we cancelled our credit card with Capital One we were told it would take them from 10-14 days to get us a new one (new CC number). In the mean time our old one is cancelled, so we will live via cash and checks.
This is unfortunate, but given the shipping charges to do deliveries on Christmas Eve and Christmas day (likewise the following week with New Years), it is understandable. This is one of the reasons there is advice to have two rewards cards so you'll still have one handy if the other doesn't work for whatever reason.
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by VictoriaF »

Mudpuppy wrote:
likegarden wrote:My short message seems to have been lost here. We also had bought from Target the last 3 weeks. But when we cancelled our credit card with Capital One we were told it would take them from 10-14 days to get us a new one (new CC number). In the mean time our old one is cancelled, so we will live via cash and checks.
This is unfortunate, but given the shipping charges to do deliveries on Christmas Eve and Christmas day (likewise the following week with New Years), it is understandable. This is one of the reasons there is advice to have two rewards cards so you'll still have one handy if the other doesn't work for whatever reason.
Based on the Krebs's article, a replacement card costs $5-$6. I wonder if banks are trying to minimize unnecessary card replacements--some people may request them without ever having visited a Target store.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by VictoriaF »

LadyGeek wrote:
Mudpuppy wrote:
Gleevec wrote:Is it possible to cancel the debit card portion of my ATM/debit card (e.g. Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo) to make it just an ATM card?
Technically possible yes, but it wouldn't help with this particular compromise. And it all depends on the policy at the bank as to whether they would cut just an ATM card instead of a check card.

And in general, ATM skimmers can be just as problematic as point-of-sale skimmers. The ATM skimmers also usually have some camera to capture the PIN. Read through the archives on Brian Krebs' page to see what I mean. So having just an ATM card would not protect you from similar attacks in the future.
Here's one article: The Biggest Skimmers of All: Fake ATMs — Krebs on Security

Posted earlier in the thread (now merged): Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets — Krebs on Security
In another thread I described my experience with a compromised AMEX card. The thing that was surprising to me was that after the initial successful $16.xx purchase my card was not used. A natural thing would be to charge hundreds of dollars once the card was proven "clean."

Based on Krebs's article I am guessing what has happened. The market was so saturated with the card numbers stolen from Target that all other cards were put on hold. Even if another card shop was selling my number, potential customers were probably more interested in the clean stuff coming directly from Target. Another factor is that after a card is proven clean it takes time for someone actually to buy it from a card shop. I guess my AMEX was not very tempting.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
User avatar
Boonedog
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 11:12 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Boonedog »

Target is notorious for being lax on their security. Plus their always out of the super deals they advertise so I don't bother and go to Wally World. Always use credit cards at merchants like these with a POS (point of sale).
goodenoughinvestor
Posts: 295
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:33 am

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by goodenoughinvestor »

Chase has announced that they are limiting the use of any of their debit cards that might have been compromised by the Target breach (about 2 million Chase customers): You can only withdraw up to $100/day and charge up to $300/day. Merry Christmas Shopping!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/busin ... reach.html
jon-nyc
Posts: 927
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:02 am
Location: New York

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by jon-nyc »

The second half of that announcement is that they'll be replacing them after Xmas. The limits are a stop-gap designed to hobble through the season.

Not this applies only to debit cards. Interesting that chase's actions are consistent with my own advice to the OP earlier in the thread.
jon-nyc
Posts: 927
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:02 am
Location: New York

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by jon-nyc »

@tfb and mudpuppy - thanks for the clarification.
evelyn
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:48 am

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by evelyn »

I cancelled my Target debit card immediately and asked for a confirmation letter to be sent to me. No more debit cards for me. Ever. Cash!
User avatar
StormShadow
Posts: 1005
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:20 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by StormShadow »

tfb wrote:
1210sda wrote:I too have my debit card (Red card) linked to my WellsFargo acct.
RED card debit card requires a PIN. PINs weren't stolen. Nothing to worry about.
I wouldn't be so sure of that.

http://www.fox19.com/story/24269704/wom ... get-breach

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... .wfsb.html

Take precaution folks. Check your credit history report regularly and closely monitor your bank/credit card statements.
User avatar
tfb
Posts: 8397
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:46 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by tfb »

StormShadow wrote:
tfb wrote:
1210sda wrote:I too have my debit card (Red card) linked to my WellsFargo acct.
RED card debit card requires a PIN. PINs weren't stolen. Nothing to worry about.
I wouldn't be so sure of that.

http://www.fox19.com/story/24269704/wom ... get-breach

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... .wfsb.html

Take precaution folks. Check your credit history report regularly and closely monitor your bank/credit card statements.
See previous posts about media's inability to report nuance.

Fox19 reports a woman said her bank account had unauthorized debits. She didn't say she used a REDcard debit card. She didn't say the unauthorized charges came through a debit network using a PIN. Regular debit card had unauthorized charges through the "credit" side, sure. Still no indication her PIN was stolen.

Same thing for the CNN story. 20-year-old woman had unauthorized debits. It showed a Visa debit card. Not REDcard debit card. Nothing was said about whether the unauthorized charges came through a debit network using a PIN.

Nuance matters.
Harry Sit has left the forums.
User avatar
grabiner
Advisory Board
Posts: 35307
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:58 pm
Location: Columbia, MD

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by grabiner »

VictoriaF wrote:Based on the Krebs's article, a replacement card costs $5-$6. I wonder if banks are trying to minimize unnecessary card replacements--some people may request them without ever having visited a Target store.
The last time this happened (at Discount Shoe Warehouse), my credit union made the opposite decision. Even though they had no evidence that my own MasterCard had been improperly used, they decided it would be safer, as well as more reassuring, to issue a new MasterCard to all customers at DSW than to deal with the fraudulent transactions.

I got the message from Chase that they are not reissuing cards. I'm not even sure whether my card was breached, as I shopped at Target in the evening on December 15. I did check my statement online and didn't find anything suspicious.

The fact that stolen card data is going for $30 suggests that the average stolen card is being used in more than $30 of fraudulent transactions, but the banks may not know which cards have been stolen until they are used; if 100 cards are possibly stolen and only one is used for $100, the cost to the bank of not replacing cards is $1.

(edited to fix typo)
Last edited by grabiner on Sun Dec 22, 2013 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wiki David Grabiner
User avatar
StormShadow
Posts: 1005
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:20 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by StormShadow »

tfb wrote:
StormShadow wrote:
tfb wrote:
1210sda wrote:I too have my debit card (Red card) linked to my WellsFargo acct.
RED card debit card requires a PIN. PINs weren't stolen. Nothing to worry about.
I wouldn't be so sure of that.

http://www.fox19.com/story/24269704/wom ... get-breach

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... .wfsb.html

Take precaution folks. Check your credit history report regularly and closely monitor your bank/credit card statements.
See previous posts about media's inability to report nuance.

Fox19 reports a woman said her bank account had unauthorized debits. She didn't say she used a REDcard debit card. She didn't say the unauthorized charges came through a debit network using a PIN. Regular debit card had unauthorized charges through the "credit" side, sure. Still no indication her PIN was stolen.

Same thing for the CNN story. 20-year-old woman had unauthorized debits. It showed a Visa debit card. Not REDcard debit card. Nothing was said about whether the unauthorized charges came through a debit network using a PIN.

Nuance matters.
Just found out my sister had over $1,000 charged at a shop in Italy. :oops:

She doesn't own a RedCard, but did shop several times at Target during the indicated dates using a Bank of America credit card. Folks, monitor your credit card history! If you used your charge card at Target between Nov 27 and Dec 15th, then IMO you should cancel the card and have a new one made.
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by VictoriaF »

grabiner wrote:
VictoriaF wrote:Based on the Krebs's article, a replacement card costs $5-$6. I wonder if banks are trying to minimize unnecessary card replacements--some people may request them without ever having visited a Target store.
The last time this happened (at Discount Shoe Warehouse), my credit union made the opposite decision. Even though they had no evidence that my own MasterCard had been improperly used, they decided it would be safer, as well as more reassuring, to issue a new MasterCard to all customers at DSW than to deal with the fraudulent transactions.

I got the message from Chase that they are not reissuing cards. I'm not even sure whether my card was breached, as I shopped at Target in the evening on December 15. I did check my statement online and didn't find anything suspicious.

The fact that stolen card data is going for $30 suggests that the average stolen card is being used in more than $30 of fraudulent transactions, but the banks may not know which cards have been stolen until they are used; if 100 cards are possibly stolen and only one is used for $100, the cost to the bank of not replacing cards is $100.
The bank's economics depend on whether $100 is lost by the bank or by the merchant. And even if banks assume most of the loss related to fraudulent transactions, they probably don't want to recall their cards in the midst of the holiday shopping.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Mudpuppy »

StormShadow wrote:Just found out my sister had over $1,000 charged at a shop in Italy. :oops:

She doesn't own a RedCard, but did shop several times at Target during the indicated dates using a Bank of America credit card. Folks, monitor your credit card history! If you used your charge card at Target between Nov 27 and Dec 15th, then IMO you should cancel the card and have a new one made.
That's pretty poor fraud detection on BofA's part unless your sister makes a habit of overseas purchases. Unless BofA was the one that alerted your sister of the purchase attempt that is. Besides, she used a credit card and used it at Target during the affected period, so I'm sure it will be little hassle to get this reversed. It's the harder to prove cases of skimmed numbers that cause headaches, not something as big and splashy as this one.

I'm not going to panic too much at the moment. I only use credit cards and only those that have zero liability protection. For something as big and splashy as this, there will likely be blanket policies from the card issuers once Target gives the affected information to both the consumer and the card issuers. I'll keep an eye on things by logging in daily and checking my transactions, but I'm not going to instantly panic just because I used my AmEx during the affected period. If there is fraud that AmEx doesn't detect, then I'll give a call.

Otherwise, I'll wait this out to see if a) the card was actually part of the compromise (we really don't know the extent of the theft at the moment other than that it was potentially all swipes; we don't even know how it happened to make educated guesses at the scope) and b) if AmEx is going to reissue all affected cards anyways once the holidays are over.
User avatar
StormShadow
Posts: 1005
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:20 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by StormShadow »

Mudpuppy wrote:
StormShadow wrote:Just found out my sister had over $1,000 charged at a shop in Italy. :oops:

She doesn't own a RedCard, but did shop several times at Target during the indicated dates using a Bank of America credit card.
That's pretty poor fraud detection on BofA's part unless your sister makes a habit of overseas purchases. Unless BofA was the one that alerted your sister of the purchase attempt that is. Besides, she used a credit card and used it at Target during the affected period, so I'm sure it will be little hassle to get this reversed. It's the harder to prove cases of skimmed numbers that cause headaches, not something as big and splashy as this one.
It was BofA who notified her of the charge as soon as it happened. They have since removed the charge from her record and gave her a new card number.
User avatar
abuss368
Posts: 27850
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: Where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players!
Contact:

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by abuss368 »

Checked again. Knock on wood, so far so good. I will keep monitoring.
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
indyfish
Posts: 64
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:22 am

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by indyfish »

It took me over 50 phone call attempts over 4 total days to get my Target Red debit card cancelled - but I finally was able to do it this morning. I may get the Red credit card at some point, but I'm not touching the debit card again.
Savvy
Posts: 367
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 3:09 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by Savvy »

We just cancelled our account (we had a debit card). Took about 15 phone calls in a ten minute span before one went through. Pretty painless 5-minutes of holding, 5-minute conversation with a nice gentleman. Cancellation is effective immediately.
cherijoh
Posts: 6591
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:49 pm
Location: Charlotte NC

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by cherijoh »

If you used your debit card, I would definitely ask for a new card, but I wouldn't bother for a credit card - unless you are NOT willing to review your charges closely. With a debit card, your account can be drained and you may have to wait a while to get it straightened out. With a credit card once you dispute a charge you don't have to pay the charge and it shouldn't count towards the balance subject to interest or against your credit limits. Plus the credit cards associated with major banks (e.g., BofA, Citi, Chase, etc.) have sophisticated algorithms to identify charges outside your normal spending pattern and can sometimes catch a fraudulent charge before it even gets posted to your account. Since they are on the hook for fraudulent charges, the credit card companies prefer to be proactive.
jon-nyc
Posts: 927
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:02 am
Location: New York

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by jon-nyc »

Target now says PINs were stolen, though they were encrypted.


http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_2 ... ompromised
jdilla1107
Posts: 849
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:31 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by jdilla1107 »

I give up. As a consumer, why do people care so much about this? Over 10 years, I have had fraudulent charges a handful of times and it took about 30 seconds on my CC's website to mark them as fraudulent and that was it.

This thread is not far off from someone suggesting to wear a tin foil hat.
cbeck
Posts: 640
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:28 am

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by cbeck »

jdilla1107 wrote:I give up. As a consumer, why do people care so much about this? Over 10 years, I have had fraudulent charges a handful of times and it took about 30 seconds on my CC's website to mark them as fraudulent and that was it.

This thread is not far off from someone suggesting to wear a tin foil hat.
I agree. A huge non-problem.
placeholder
Posts: 8421
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2013 12:43 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by placeholder »

Bigger for debit card people since it can drain the account and bounce other payments/checks but that's more a good reason to not use those.
jdilla1107
Posts: 849
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:31 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by jdilla1107 »

placeholder wrote:Bigger for debit card people since it can drain the account and bounce other payments/checks but that's more a good reason to not use those.
An easy solution to this is to set your debit limit to be 3-5x less than what you normally keep in the account. So, if you normally keep 3k in checking, then set your debit limit at $500-1000.

If you need to make a big purchase, then you can just call.

Using a credit card for everything also works.
User avatar
runner9
Posts: 2260
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by runner9 »

So, out of the blue, with no contact previously in either direction, we recevied new Fidelity Cash Rewards AMEX cards in the mail today. The old card #s will be deactivated on January 20.

I had been balanced our activity in real life to the activity shown online weekly with no issues. So, good news is we have 2 weeks to make the switch, bad news is I now have to compile what gets automatically billed to that account and change it....urgh.
cheapskate
Posts: 926
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:05 pm

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by cheapskate »

Just a heads up.

My wife shopped at Target lots of times when the thieves were stealing credit card numbers of shoppers.

Today, 4 different fraudulent charges (at Brick and Mortar stores in PA) were made on her CC (each charge was for just under $300). We live in CA, so the credit card company's fraud protection alerts instantly kicked in. The card was blocked (and now canceled). So it appears, the thieves are actively selling the card numbers they stole.

It is probably a good idea to proactively cancel your cards before anything bad happens if you believe your credit or debit card number may have been compromised. At the end of the day the customer is not responsible for these fraudulent charges, but cancelling the cards and getting new ones re-issued just seems like a good precaution and will avoid headaches and time spent on phone with the fraud department of your credit card company.
oaksavannah
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2012 6:50 am

Re: Target Credit/Debit Card Hacks - what to do?

Post by oaksavannah »

I reported the fradulent charge I found on my Target credit card to Target and they cancelled the card and are sending a new one. I contacted Experian to have a credit freeze (also called a security freeze) so that new cards, loans, etc cannot be issued in my name. For Virginia residents, Experian charges $20. That will another $20 for my wife, plus I have to contact Transunion and Equifax separately and probably they will charge something also. What a racket.
Post Reply