Target still being hacked

[scard192]

This card had never been used at Target before. I called Target fraud and they thought their problem had been fixed. Wrong!

unless the card was never used anywhere else, how can you be so sure it happened at Target?

 

[scard192]

My Amazon credit card number was stolen a few years ago. That card has never left my house and the only place I have ever used it was at Amazon. Chase caught the fraudulent charge in CA (I live on the East Coast) declined it and notified me. I would have thought that this card was the safest, wrong!

 

[teller80]

Very true -- 2 places you should absolutely avoid "flashing plastic" at all times are certain "pay at the pump" gas stations and restaurants (due to the high turnover of wait staff).

To be clear though, I don't believe there is an issue of people being able to hack your identity from "pay at the pump", it's more that if you use a debit card the gas station can put a hold on it for a large sum of money that can cause your checks to bounce.

 

[JandJ]

DH is in the industry, so we take precautions, but honestly, this type of fraud can happen anywhere, any time. Our cc company called us one day because our card was used in Texas at a Best Buy - we live in Florida and had the cards on us physically the whole time. We have no clue what store or restaurant or on-line purchase caused the card info to be stolen. The cc company caught it, notified us, and sent us new cards in less than a week.

If the OP had never used that card anywhere else, not on-line or at any other store, then I would be inclined to believe it was Target. But, it could have happened at the local grocery store or Macy's or Gap.com, for instance, many months ago. You just never know.

We were in Target Saturday for the 10% off and they were PACKED! There weren't even any carts or baskets left in the entire store! I've never seen it like that, except Black Friday, and I used to work there. DH asked the clerk if more people were using cash and she said no, most were still using their cards.

 

[Robinrs]

Target was offering 10% off because credit info was hacked between Nov 27th and Dec 18th. Their website says the problem has bee fixed. I charged something on Saturday, Dec 21st on my VISA. Today VSA called an reported many suspicious charge totaling over $2,300. The only other charge on my card was at Target. They had to cancel my card. This is my card that I was going to use on vacation later this week. Beware, and don't believe Target about the hacking problem being fixed!

Seriously?

I've had fraud charges FIVE times before the Target debacle, believe me it can happen anytime and anywhere. That's five times in the past 10 years.

Like everyone said Target is the most advertised and largest but HARDLY the only. The banks have entire departments monitoring this kind of stuff, do you think it just started?

 

[Lehuaann]

The only other charge on my card was at Target. They had to cancel my card.

This card had never been used at Target before. I called Target fraud and they thought their problem had been fixed. Wrong!

Sounds like the charge was just a coincidence and not directly tied to what's happening with Target.

My Visa CC, which we RARELY ever use, came up with a fraudulent charge within the past year.....which leads me to believe that sometimes our stolen info lies dormant before being used.

 

[bumbershoot]

To be clear though, I don't believe there is an issue of people being able to hack your identity from "pay at the pump", it's more that if you use a debit card the gas station can put a hold on it for a large sum of money that can cause your checks to bounce.

People have been known to put fake readers over the pay at pump things. Those steal your info. If you aren't familiar with what a station's readers you wouldn't know it's not how it should be. That's what I was getting at.

But handing a card off to a server has always been a prime source of info theft. So much easier than hacking or attaching devices to gas pumps and ATM slots (as was happening a couple years ago).

 

[manning]

Hopefully they now start phasing in the technology they use n Europe and phase out the magnetic strip. Understand their security is much better. They don't have pin/security code stored on the card.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Hopefully they now start phasing in the technology they use n Europe and phase out the magnetic strip. Understand their security is much better. They don't have pin/security code stored on the card.

Additionally, at restaurants in Europe, they don't usually disappear with your credit card when you pay your bill. They bring a card reader to the table and run your card in front of you.

 

[akcire]

Hopefully they now start phasing in the technology they use n Europe and phase out the magnetic strip. Understand their security is much better. They don't have pin/security code stored on the card.

Citibank just mailed me a chip/pin card as a replacement this month.

 

[Planogirl]

We use our debit cards regularly at Target so I've been tempted to cancel them and get new cards. However I've been told that just monitoring the cards is probably enough at this point.

It's confusing.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

To be clear though, I don't believe there is an issue of people being able to hack your identity from "pay at the pump", it's more that if you use a debit card the gas station can put a hold on it for a large sum of money that can cause your checks to bounce.

Your card can be "skimmed" at a pay at the pump gas station any time you use your debit card & punch in your pass code. All the skimmer has to do is be in the vicinity with their machine & have placed a device in the card reader. Happens quite frequently in our area - we're a tourist town. They also have a way of attaching skimming devices to ATMs. A few banks & grocery stores got hit during the spring & summer. The ideal thing is to use your debit card as a credit card everywhere unless you absolutely need cash back. Protects you - just ask your bank.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Canceling the cards is worth it to me. rather than get hit with a fraud issue and have to go through all the work to get it taken care. Plus I won't have to monitor my acct wondering if or when I might get hit.

 

[Robinrs]

Canceling the cards is worth it to me. rather than get hit with a fraud issue and have to go through all the work to get it taken care. Plus I won't have to monitor my acct wondering if or when I might get hit.

You should monitor your accts regardless. Target is only one source, hackers are everywhere.

I had a hacker who bought something from me in KOREA. The bank told me that they have machines that try numbers over and over until one hits. Most of the time they do it overnight with a small item, like an itunes download. THEN THEY HIT YOU.

 

[seashoreCM]

Target can truthfully say they have fixed the hacking problem if they closed the barn doors even though the four million horses have already been rustled out and are running loose.

Although hardly anyone would want to steal information about a Target credit card from among the 4 million, favoring a Mastercard or Visa instead, Target should lay low for a year or two and not zealously press cases against any of its own credit card holders.

 

[packofjedis]

A cc company where my card was once stolen from years ago, told me oftentimes they sit on the number for a bit before they try to use it. So maybe this isn't related to Target at all, and just coincidentally when you used it at Target

 

[Sagginit]

A cc company where my card was once stolen from years ago, told me oftentimes they sit on the number for a bit before they try to use it. So maybe this isn't related to Target at all, and just coincidentally when you used it at Target

i had a card stolen this fall, it was my least used CC and i had not used it anywhere but my ezpass for months. a physical was printed and used in store, so im convinced it was like zombie fraud, my information was stolen a while ago and brought back by a fraud ring.

i check my accounts almost daily for these reasons. unless you go with cash only you are bound to encounter some sort of fraud at one point.

 

[sweetdana]

Easy to blame Target right now. it.

Target is 1000% at fault. It is nearly certain it was internal. They missed background checks on the front end, and double,triple , quadruple stoppers/ checkers on the back. They missed software, to detect things like this, and multiple serves/locations at least making the liss smaller if happening. They cheaped out on employees, costs, and servers and now they are paying... And

And 2. Yes target is currently a cash n carry and should be for a long time. Their is little doubt in my mind until the criminals are caught (or a significant time passes) there is still risk and wholes in security . Even new hackers are looking for the wholes created by the current thieves, knowing they are their, just trying to find the security breach. This is not a bandaid 10 min fix... This probably took months to plan... And it will take months to fix, or the exact location of the breach.

 

[mrsklamc]

Target is 1000% at fault. It is nearly certain it was internal. They missed background checks on the front end, and double,triple , quadruple stoppers/ checkers on the back. They missed software, to detect things like this, and multiple serves/locations at least making the liss smaller if happening. They cheaped out on employees, costs, and servers and now they are paying... And

And 2. Yes target is currently a cash n carry and should be for a long time. Their is little doubt in my mind until the criminals are caught (or a significant time passes) there is still risk and wholes in security . Even new hackers are looking for the wholes created by the current thieves, knowing they are their, just trying to find the security breach. This is not a bandaid 10 min fix... This probably took months to plan... And it will take months to fix, or the exact location of the breach.

1) the person you are quoting is saying there is no way to know whether target had anything to do with OPs fraud, not that they are faultless in the fraud committed in their stores.

2) You seem to have a lot of knowledge about what caused the breaches; can you cite a source for all these things you're saying they dropped the ball on?

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Target is 1000% at fault. It is nearly certain it was internal. They missed background checks on the front end, and double,triple , quadruple stoppers/ checkers on the back. They missed software, to detect things like this, and multiple serves/locations at least making the liss smaller if happening. They cheaped out on employees, costs, and servers and now they are paying... And

And 2. Yes target is currently a cash n carry and should be for a long time. Their is little doubt in my mind until the criminals are caught (or a significant time passes) there is still risk and wholes in security . Even new hackers are looking for the wholes created by the current thieves, knowing they are their, just trying to find the security breach. This is not a bandaid 10 min fix... This probably took months to plan... And it will take months to fix, or the exact location of the breach.

What are you referring to? Internal Controls that weren't followed? Improperly configured firewalls that weren't checking for port egress? Security software on the servers used for change management? Something else? "Stoppers/checkers" doesn't tell us anything, I'm afraid.