Target Customers Beware

Living in a digital world does not comes without it's dangers and if you recently shopped at Target it just got a little scarier. Happy Holidays from the cybercriminals.

That is because credit and debit card information of many Target customers have apparently been stolen during the Black Friday weekend, according to reports. In fact this may be been continued for another two weeks after black Friday weekend.

The thieves got access to data stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of the credit and debit cards through card swiping devices that could have been tampered with at the retailer's stores. This fact was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

This is a real security problem because it is the data on the stripe which can be used to make counterfeit cards. If the thieves also intercepted PIN (personal identification number) data for debit transactions, they would have the ability to reproduce stolen debit cards and use them to withdraw cash from bank accounts through ATM's.

Millions of cardholders could be vulnerable as a result of the breach that is believed to have affected about 40,000 card devices at store registers, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the incident. The breach extends to nearly all Target locations in the United States.

If you have shopped at any Target store from late November through today I would recommend that you cancel the card you used there and have a new one issued. Also double and triple check your account (you used) and your bank account if it was a debit card.