Shop at Target recently? Uh-oh...

[Jeffg010]

Actually, that's not a bad argument for using a reloadable gift card. However, all credit cards have fraud protection, so really it's just an argument against ever using a debit card.

My bank (PNC) covers my debit card and has done so the last 2 times I got hit so that is not true for all debit cards. PNC is pretty good about alerts when something does not seem right on purchase. Sometime they will go over board with the alerts. You have to be with all the crap that is out there.

I think I might of got hit here from the target breach. I got a call on Sunday asking if I made a purchase at a Walmart in Illinois. I live in Pittsburgh. The amount is $184 and once it posted to my account I did a dispute with PNC and they are going to reimburse me the full amount. They said they will always cover a fraudulent charge.

 

[Ichinisan]

Jesus christ, what human could spend that much at McDonald's?

Probably buying a lot of gift cards to sell.

 

[Ichinisan]

Maybe these companies should invest in hiring some security personnel and buy hardware like firewalls and IPS systems and develop something to prevent this.

You should write scripts and screenplays for movies and TV shows.

What's the firewall going to do? Block the machine from reporting legitimate transactions?

I guess a firewall is some kind of magic security thing.

 

[ViRGE]

Shopped there on the 26th. Missed it by a day.

 

[Golgatha]

My bank (PNC) covers my debit card and has done so the last 2 times I got hit so that is not true for all debit cards. PNC is pretty good about alerts when something does not seem right on purchase. Sometime they will go over board with the alerts. You have to be with all the crap that is out there.

I think I might of got hit here from the target breach. I got a call on Sunday asking if I made a purchase at a Walmart in Illinois. I live in Pittsburgh. The amount is $184 and once it posted to my account I did a dispute with PNC and they are going to reimburse me the full amount. They said they will always cover a fraudulent charge.

My bank covers the fraudulent charges on debit cards too. Thing is it's a lot more annoying to get things straightened out because it can cause checks to bounce, etc if the "bad guys" pull too much money out. My time is valuable and I hate PITA situations, so I choose to pretty much never use a debit card when a credit card is accepted for payment as well.

 

[Golgatha]

Shopped there on the 26th. Missed it by a day.

Darn it, my wife shopped there once on Dec 1st. Time to call the CC company.

 

[Aikouka]

Target is offering 10% off to all customers this Saturday (12/21) and Sunday (12/22):

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101290605

 

[Mermaidman]

Target is offering 10% off to all customers this Saturday (12/21) and Sunday (12/22):

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101290605

Not bad - Stock up on things that never go on sale. Or perhaps get the new ipad mini. :thumbsup:

 

[Aikouka]

Or perhaps get the new ipad mini. :thumbsup:

Apple is excluded.

The SlickDeals post has the following exclusions (I believe it's the same as that 25% off Black Friday coupon):

Excludes all gift cards, entertainment cards, airtime cards, prepaid cards, iTunes cards, Apple, Bose, all video games, Playstation 4 consoles, Xbox One consoles, Target Mobile(SM), prescriptions, optical, clinic, and alcohol purchases. Offer cannot be combined with other storewide or category/department coupons.

Although, I'm wondering if this supersedes the 5% RedCard discount, or do we get both?

 

[Childs]

Heh...I went to Target once in the last 6 months, and it was in that time period. I just had to buy those freakin Atkins bars. No sketchy charges though, and my bank has pretty good fraud prevention.

 

[OverVolt]

Safety in numbers! Safety in numbers!

 

[malbojah]

Apple is excluded.

The SlickDeals post has the following exclusions (I believe it's the same as that 25% off Black Friday coupon):

Excludes all gift cards, entertainment cards, airtime cards, prepaid cards, iTunes cards, Apple, Bose, all video games, Playstation 4 consoles, Xbox One consoles, Target Mobile(SM), prescriptions, optical, clinic, and alcohol purchases. Offer cannot be combined with other storewide or category/department coupons.

Although, I'm wondering if this supersedes the 5% RedCard discount, or do we get both?

So basically any reason I would have to shop there?

 

[Malodrik]

Unfortunately POS & Debit machines are notoriously easy to hack. All you need is some general programming knowledge, and a quick google search (manuals and whitepapers for all these machines can be found online, and are free to download).

Just an example

 

[IronWing]

Reports abound of people trying to contact Target over this breach. Why would one call Target? It would make more sense to contact your bank.

 

[alkemyst]

Unfortunately POS & Debit machines are notoriously easy to hack. All you need is some general programming knowledge, and a quick google search (manuals and whitepapers for all these machines can be found online, and are free to download).

Just an example

You'd need access and that's the hardest part.

 

[alkemyst]

Reports abound of people trying to contact Target over this breach. Why would one call Target? It would make more sense to contact your bank.

People post here about issues with a vendor first. Have you not paid attention?

Personally, contacting the merchant directly (phone call); is the smartest choice rather than your bank.

Last month one of my credit card companies, did a autopayment that had an extra zero on the end.

It blew away my bill pay account.

Unfortunately for them, they just ate my next nearly four payments due to paying simple $10-50 transactions on overdrafts.

I called the carrier, they three-wayed my bank. The fees were taken care of.

Always give the company that made an error a chance to make it right.

 

[Malodrik]

You'd need access and that's the hardest part.

That's simple; most places are so unsecured (both wireless and wired connections concerning) that it's easy to work a two man operation. One to distract, one to circumvent. Or hell, if they're running on a wireless connection from their debit/credit terminals (I don't know a whole lot about them, so I may be misspeaking here), you could easily use reaver/aircrack to break into their network, then capture any packets thrown over the wire. Problems with encryption? Just time.

Not that I would ever do any of this, mind you.

EDIT: I've worked in retail for five years, so I've seen firsthand how unsecure some of this shit is.

 

[alkemyst]

That's simple; most places are so unsecured (both wireless and wired connections concerning) that it's easy to work a two man operation. One to distract, one to circumvent. Or hell, if they're running on a wireless connection from their debit/credit terminals (I don't know a whole lot about them, so I may be misspeaking here), you could easily use reaver/aircrack to break into their network, then capture any packets thrown over the wire. Problems with encryption? Just time.

Not that I would ever do any of this, mind you.

no, it's not that easy any more in the big players...I saw on a blog recently that some company put their router/switch on a wall timer for security. It shut off at 7pm and turned on at 7am. Always worked 9-5. They made a phone call to get it fixed because somehow traffic was on their network outside that. Some person figured out just plug it into the wall.

These attacks come from knowing more than physical access with big companies in their showrooms/retail floors.

That said if you can get total full physical access to a device chances are you can get inside.

This is why I promote physical security.

 

[alkemyst]

@Malodrik: some retail is very insecure. They also don't have much to lose at times.

I have seen ATM's with their connection as a device right on top with a way to access.

What I do is tell them about the issue.

 

[Malodrik]

edit

 

[alkemyst]

You aren't saying much about who you worked for. Personally I'd think they were idiots if this was 2000+ in the USA. I see you are in Nova Scotia so this filters down.

Fortunately, Nova Scotia is not a huge target. You probably have script kiddies working on it.

 

[Kaido]

I shopped at Target yesterday. It was a ghost town. Fastest I've ever gotten out of checkout before

 

[IronWing]

People post here about issues with a vendor first. Have you not paid attention?

Personally, contacting the merchant directly (phone call); is the smartest choice rather than your bank.

Last month one of my credit card companies, did a autopayment that had an extra zero on the end.

It blew away my bill pay account.

Unfortunately for them, they just ate my next nearly four payments due to paying simple $10-50 transactions on overdrafts.

I called the carrier, they three-wayed my bank. The fees were taken care of.

Always give the company that made an error a chance to make it right.

In this case of stolen CC numbers the point is to stop the use of the card as soon as possible. For that one should call the CC lender. It doesn't really matter where one's CC number was originally stolen.

 

[Wingznut]

Got an email from my CU yesterday. In it they say,

"We’ve identified that you shopped in a Target store during this timeframe and we’re closely monitoring your transactions. If we suspect fraud, we’ll take appropriate action to stop it and contact you. Rest assured, we’ll credit your account for the fraudulent amount and guide you through the dispute process. "

Love my CU!

 

[WilliamM2]

Got an email from my CU yesterday. In it they say,

Love my CU!

My wife has almost the same notice posted online for her Citi card account. I'm sure all of them are more than aware of this.