Target stores hacked: Warning to credit card customers

[Teal Lantern]

Target hack: Tips for all customers
http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/10/technol ... index.html

Never mentioned problems like that when they were running commercials like this ...


Hmmm...

[Winston]

I used my credit card at Target at the end of December, and after that, unknown charges from Microsoft Services kept appearing on my credit card activity. They were flagged and my credit card company contacted me about it. When I said they were not authorized, they said that they would have to issue me a new card with a new account number to stop the fraud.

However, the article said:

While hackers only stole credit and debit card data from shoppers at U.S. stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, they also grabbed details on people who shopped there before that.

But I used my credit card at Target after December 25. So I don't know if this Target hack applied to me or not.

Also, the unauthorized charges came with foreign transaction fees, as though they were made abroad. Does that mean the hackers hacked in from overseas?

And why do the fraudulent charges say "Microsoft Services" on them? How can hackers impersonate Microsoft? The last time I saw "Microsoft Services" on my credit card was when Dianne used my credit card to buy apps for her phone from Microsoft. But that was long ago and she says she has not bought any apps since then.

Furthermore, those apps she bought from Microsoft were only a few dollars. But the charges I got this time from Microsoft Services were around $100 each. I don't think any smart phone apps would cost that much.

It's really weird.

[Winston]

Here is Target's FAQ page about the security breach.

https://corporate.target.com/about/shop ... -issue-FAQ

It says that the breach was closed after December 15. So the fraudulent charges on my card could not have been due to it. I don't think I went to Target when I was in California though.

[Teal Lantern]

I expect more is on the way.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0118/ ... otato-hack

Target, six other retailers apparently no match for Russian teen’s 'potato' hack

Wielding a piece of malware called ‘potato’ in Russian, Eastern European hackers stormed past the digital firewalls of Target and six other retailers to steal credit cards belonging to a quarter of the US population.