Target Breach.

[sunshinehighway]

Anyone following this story? What a hassle. I did a lot of shopping at Target. Think you are better off if you used a Red debit card or worse? I'm thinking better off because it can only be used at Target which makes it less appealing.

 

[JillianMarie]

Well, it's certainly one reason to avoid using the debit function when you swipe your card.

Maybe I'm just cynical, but this sort of thing happens all the time. It's frustrating and will be a pain if anyone is caught up in it, but that's why there's credit card protection. They notify you, you cancel the card, you move on.

 

[Swimalie]

The breach is another reason I won't get a debit card. I am keeping all of my red (credit) card receipts for a while now and will verify that I made all the transactions.

I'm thinking that those that used a Target Red Card will be better off since the card can only be used there. But those who used another credit or debit card will have to really check their info for a while. The thieves may not use the info for months so people are really going to have to watch their bank accounts and credit card statements well. This is a reason not to have auto bill pay on any credit cards, as well.

 

[wekhogan]

From ABC News:


"According to The Wall Street Journal, the breach involves the theft of data stored on the magnetic stripe of cards used at store registers across the United States.

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 anywhere in the world.

If the thieves were also able to intercept pin data for debit transactions, they could theoretically be able to reproduce stolen debit cards and use them to withdraw cash."

 

[ICF]

yet another reason, why I'll never use a debit card and only CC's.

At least if our card is compromised, they can't get money from our bank account.

 

[plummer925]

More and more reason to just use cash, I guess. Saving 5% is not worth it. And if I don't pay the balance in full each month, the interest rate is somewhere around 20 or 24% - that's not a savings.

I think 2014 is going to be my year of "cash only" and "debt free"

 

[snarlingcoyote]

DH told me about it this morning. I will be checking my accounts verrrrraaaaa closely and every day for the next few months.

I am thankful I didn't use my debit card there. I think I may well start using it like an ATM card and only use it at the bank to withdraw money. I try to use my credit card, but if I need cash, I will sometimes whip out my debit card.

No more. Just not worth the worrying.

 

[mbf]

I thought Target Red Cards could be used anywhere? That is how they always propose it to me anyway. That it is just like a regular Debit card. I also had a Target Red Card credit card years ago and IIRC it was a regular credit card. (that part I could be fuzzy on) If the Debit Card can only be used at Target I might actually get one. I thought it replaced your current Debit card and I could not use that one anymore.

Anyway, I think after Christmas I will call and have my Debit card cancelled and replaced by my bank. It is worth the $10 to replace it for the peace of mind. Until then, I will watch things carefully.

This happens all of the time though. Remember the big TJ Maxx and BJ's breaches of a few years ago? My husband's credit card number was stolen from Wine of the Month this past year and another time through a supplier he uses for his business. Even with my debit card having been hacked a couple of times my bank was right on top of it and called me about some unusual charges that occurred.

 

[sunshinehighway]

More and more reason to just use cash, I guess. Saving 5% is not worth it. And if I don't pay the balance in full each month, the interest rate is somewhere around 20 or 24% - that's not a savings.

I think 2014 is going to be my year of "cash only" and "debt free"

The Target Red debit card is basically the same thing as writing a check. There is no balance to pay in full each month .

There are plenty of reasons to not use cash exclusively. I wouldn't want to be carrying around a large amount of cash. If you lose cash, its gone.

 

[lovin'fl]

Would this apply to online orders as well? I did an online order on black Friday (to get coupon) and used my CC which still has the charge as a pending transaction on my account for some reason.

 

[sunshinehighway]

DH told me about it this morning. I will be checking my accounts verrrrraaaaa closely and every day for the next few months.

I am thankful I didn't use my debit card there. I think I may well start using it like an ATM card and only use it at the bank to withdraw money. I try to use my credit card, but if I need cash, I will sometimes whip out my debit card.

No more. Just not worth the worrying.

Did you know with the Discover It card you can get cashback when you make a purchase and it doesn't count as a cash advance? It just adds the cashback as part of the total purchase. It's a pretty cool feature.

 

[lucyem]

We had a serious issue with a debit card many years ago. Before regular banks were more helpful and on top of fraud. Since then we have always declined debit cards completely. I don't like the instant access to your bank account. We only use cash or a credit card. Besides gotta build up those points on our Chase Disney CC

We have the Target store card which is like a credit card but only useable at Target.

 

[Swimalie]

Would this apply to online orders as well? I did an online order on black Friday (to get coupon) and used my CC which still has the charge as a pending transaction on my account for some reason.

I have heard and read that it is only for in store purchases. You should be safe with an on-line charge.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Would this apply to online orders as well? I did an online order on black Friday (to get coupon) and used my CC which still has the charge as a pending transaction on my account for some reason.

The articles I read stated that it only applied to in store purchases.

As per the Target website: https://corporate.target.com/discover/article/Important-Notice-Unauthorized-access-to-payment-ca

We wanted to make you aware of unauthorized access to Target payment card data. The unauthorized access may impact guests who made credit or debit card purchases in our U.S. stores from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15, 2013. Your trust is a top priority for Target, and we deeply regret the inconvenience this may cause. The privacy and protection of our guests’ information is a matter we take very seriously and we have worked swiftly to resolve the incident.

We began investigating the incident as soon as we learned of it. We have determined that the information involved in this incident included customer name, credit or debit card number, and the card’s expiration date and CVV (the three-digit security code).

So debit cards were actually safer, because the software didn't get the PIN, but if you can use them like a CC, it's worse because often bank debit cards don't have the same protections that many CC's offer AND they pull from your bank account, not a credit account with a grace period.

Anyone who shopped at Target will need to get new CC's ASAP. OTOH, it IS Christmas and I know most of us will ALSO need to use our CC's. . .I'll have to swap over to my airline miles CC I guess, so I'll request a new card and account # today.

I'm sure this will be big news in the InfoSec world, so I'll go out to some websites I read occasionally and report back after work or from my phone. (I hate using my phone for the DIS, but if it's really interesting/useful, I'll post for ya'll.)

 

[luvmy3]

I thought Target Red Cards could be used anywhere? That is how they always propose it to me anyway. That it is just like a regular Debit card. I also had a Target Red Card credit card years ago and IIRC it was a regular credit card. (that part I could be fuzzy on) If the Debit Card can only be used at Target I might actually get one. I thought it replaced your current Debit card and I could not use that one anymore.

A Target debit redcard can only be used at Target.

 

[msdaisy]

And they didn't even give us the 20% off those stinking disney gift cards after luring us all in!

 

[3boymthr]

Well. Isn't that special?

I used my red card 7 or 8 times in that period. So far so good but I'm going to call and request that they send a new one.

 

[java]

Merry Christmas! This stinks. I was hoping debit wasn't impacted but it seems like it was. Wonderful. I'll be watching that account very closely.

 

[Disneefun]

We just went ahead and requested new debit cards. Not worth the worry to "wait and see" for me. And the bank agreed with me! Said they'd rather I go ahead and close the cards voluntarily than leave them to pay out if I ended up being defrauded.

I can just go in the branch and write a check to cash if I need cash and use the CC's in the meantime. No big deal.

 

[msdaisy]

I know I need to get new debit cards but we leave on the 24th to head to Disney World so this is really bad timing.....