Wow, this is awful. If you have shopped at a Target store location between Thanksgiving Day (11/28) and 12/15, there is a possibility that your credit card information was compromised. There has been no official statement released, but Krebs On Security has found some information:
“According to sources at two different top 10 credit card issuers, the breach extends to nearly all Target locations nationwide, and involves the theft of data stored on the magnetic stripe of cards used at the stores.
The type of data stolen — also known as “track data” — allows crooks to create counterfeit cards by encoding the information onto any card with a magnetic stripe. If the thieves also were able to intercept PIN data for debit transactions, they would theoretically be able to reproduce stolen debit cards and use them to withdraw cash from ATMs.
It’s not clear how many cards thieves may have stolen in the breach. But the sources I spoke with from two major card issuers said they have so far been notified by one of the credit card associations regarding more than one million of cards total from both issuers that were thought to have been compromised in the breach.”
This is unbelievably horrible and I’m sure we’ll hear more information soon, but please take a look at your credit card statements item by item as soon as possible for the time period listed above. If you shopped at a Target store during that time (and I know that many if not most of us did), I would highly suggest calling your credit card company and requesting a new card. We can’t know how many cards were stolen, but we can move to secure ourselves sooner rather than later.
(Thanks and quotes from Krebs On Security)
Alli is a Chicago based wife and mother of two children. She has turned money-saving into a game and enjoys searching out the best deals to help you save money! Alli shares her insight, tips and up-to-the-minute deals for local and national retailers and brands. Her hope is that you will play the game and learn to save money at the same time!