Target still being hacked

[hildarumpole]

I got the email last night and signed up for the credit monitoring. The last time I shopped at Target was late October, so this problem is bigger than just Black Friday/Christmas sales season.

I had a problem with Walmart.com and hacking a couple years ago. Three orders for the exact same thing were placed on my account within 1 hour of each other. I found out, because I got emails confirming the orders. I called Walmart right away and they said they were aware of the problem, but couldn't cancel the orders or issue a refund. I was told I would have to go through the cc company to resolve it. When I called Chase, they said they were aware of problems with Walmart.com, launched a fraud investigation, reversed the charges and sent me a new card. I wasn't happy with the way Walmart handled the situation. It wasn't as big a case as Target, but obviously something was going on if Chase knew about it. At least Target is taking responsibility for the problem and trying to help customers.

 

[Pooh2]

What was the range of dates that were affected by the hacker? In November to December timeframe?

Just went over my statements, had one purchase on each of our cards at Target, one in Nov, one in Dec.

 

[SpaceGirl]

The order I received from Target was done on November 4, so before their Black Friday dates.

 

[emilymad]

I signed up for the credit monitoring but then I got a message that it couldn't pull my credit report but to not worry as my credit card would not be charged. Did I really get signed up?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Emily did you sign up through Target of through an email you got?

 

[emilymad]

I went to the website and requested the activiation code and then signed up through that.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

??? Did you enter your credit card info? Since it gave you a message that said your credit card would not be charged?

I did not have to enter any credit card info.

 

[emilymad]

I didn't enter any credit card information which is why I thought it was weird. Is there a website to check your account status?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Go back to the web page protectmyid.com/target.

and look at your acct.

 

[emilymad]

I don't think it went through the first time. I redid my registration and seems to be working now. Thanks!

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

You thought the breach only affected Target cards? It affected any card used at the store. The people with Red Cards have a lower chance of trouble, since if they stole those, they would only be used at Target.

Wrong - my Target Red Card is a visa card & can be used anywhere. That's one of the reasons for the big panic.

 

[JB2K]

Just wanted to remind everyone that if you receive the legit e-mail from Target, but are thinking to yourself "I can't recall ever giving them my e-mail address" -- it could be through some business you did with Amazon.com (Amazon used to operate the e-commerce side of target.com until Target took it in-house, a few short years ago)...

 

[scard192]

heard something this morning on my local news that this could be bigger than just Target; Russian Malware that covers its tracks.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/16/target-hacking-russian/4527119/

 

[lisaross]

i received an email from target -- i used their card online only - but i will sign up for the fraud protection i guess

 

[DizMe]

I did something totally stupid and could just kick myself. A few weeks ago, I got a phone call and the woman asked for me by name, then said something about my Medicare prescription plan. I told her I wasn't on medicare and she seemed taken aback, but then said, "Just to verify that I've got the wrong person, could you please give me your date of birth?" I'm so trained to answer questions that I said it without thinking. She said thank you and I'm sorry for bothering you and hung up, while I was busy kicking myself for being an idiot. I did sign up for the credit protection offered by Target and hopefully it was a legitimate call. My dad is on Medicare and lives with me so I often get calls about his medical stuff so I figured they probably had my name as the one to call (he has Alzheimer's) and got confused. I did try googling the phone number and it was a mixed bag as to whether or not it was a legitimate call. Some found it to be associated with a prescription company for Medicare but others said they weren't able to verify that, so anyway, be cautious (and I knew this but did it anyway!!!) about giving out ANY personal info on the phone. My advice is to simply hang up if there is any question.

If this call was not legitimate, what would be the reason for wanting my birth date? Identity theft? Is there anything more I should do? I already contacted my bank (nothing they can do) and set up the credit fraud protection. I shopped heavily at Target but as a PP said, it appears that it is going to be a lot more widespread than just Target.

 

[bdcp]

I did something totally stupid and could just kick myself. A few weeks ago, I got a phone call and the woman asked for me by name, then said something about my Medicare prescription plan. I told her I wasn't on medicare and she seemed taken aback, but then said, "Just to verify that I've got the wrong person, could you please give me your date of birth?" I'm so trained to answer questions that I said it without thinking. She said thank you and I'm sorry for bothering you and hung up, while I was busy kicking myself for being an idiot. I did sign up for the credit protection offered by Target and hopefully it was a legitimate call. My dad is on Medicare and lives with me so I often get calls about his medical stuff so I figured they probably had my name as the one to call (he has Alzheimer's) and got confused. I did try googling the phone number and it was a mixed bag as to whether or not it was a legitimate call. Some found it to be associated with a prescription company for Medicare but others said they weren't able to verify that, so anyway, be cautious (and I knew this but did it anyway!!!) about giving out ANY personal info on the phone. My advice is to simply hang up if there is any question.

If this call was not legitimate, what would be the reason for wanting my birth date? Identity theft? Is there anything more I should do? I already contacted my bank (nothing they can do) and set up the credit fraud protection. I shopped heavily at Target but as a PP said, it appears that it is going to be a lot more widespread than just Target.

They want your birthday to verify if you are who they are looking for. Sounds like they realized you weren't the person. Giving out your birthdate is not a big deal. Birthdates aren't really private info. It's not like they asked for your ssn or your mother's maiden name.

 

[DizMe]

They want your birthday to verify if you are who they are looking for. Sounds like they realized you weren't the person. Giving out your birthdate is not a big deal. Birthdates aren't really private info. It's not like they asked for your ssn or your mother's maiden name.

Thank you! That does make me feel better. It also got me to thinking about how easy it would be to find out a lot of that kind of info without even calling. I figured if someone knew my phone number and name, it wouldn't take too much digging to find out my birthdate.

 

[MillauFr]

Agreed. I'm sure it was a legit call. Your birthdate is easy to find. Not really private.

 

[luvmikids]

Thank you! That does make me feel better. It also got me to thinking about how easy it would be to find out a lot of that kind of info without even calling. I figured if someone knew my phone number and name, it wouldn't take too much digging to find out my birthdate.

Just be sure you have protected yourself, it sounds like a phishing scam. They know your name and address and "need your birthdate." I would change passwords to your accounts etc, you cannot be too careful.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Just be sure you have protected yourself, it sounds like a phishing scam. They know your name and address and "need your birthdate." I would change passwords to your accounts etc, you cannot be too careful.

Okay, presuming people are wise enough not to use something like a birthdate as a password, what is your rationale for thinking that someone should change his/her password to accounts when he/she has been hit by a possible pretexting attack?

ETA: That came out snarky. I didn't mean for it sound that way. I'm just. . .I can usually figure out people's chains of logic on things, but that one escapes me.