14 DAY TRIAL // The credit cards of over 1 million people who have made purchases at Target stores are said to have been compromised in a breach that started around Black Friday and might have lasted until December 15.
Sources have told Brian Krebs that almost all Target stores in the US are impacted. The criminals are said to have stolen magnetic track information, which enables them to clone the credit cards. If they have somehow obtained PINs as well, they can easily make fraudulent withdrawals from ATMs.
The representatives of Target, Visa and MasterCard have refused to make comments on the allegations. However, if the reports are true, they’ll probably start notifying impacted individuals soon.
American Express representatives have told Reuters that they’re aware of the incident and that anti-fraud measures are being put in place.
So far, there’s no evidence to suggest that customers of Target’s online stores are impacted by the breach.
The US Secret Service has launched an investigation.
Update. Target says around 40 million payment cards have been compromised.