Canadian and Target.com customers are not impacted

Dec 19, 2013 12:03 GMT  ·  By

A few hours ago, we learned that criminals stole the payment card details of millions of Target customers from all over the United States. The company has come forward with a statement.

According to the retailer, around 40 million credit and debit cards might have been compromised. People who made purchases at Target stores in the US between November 27 and December 15 are impacted.

The company is working with law enforcement, including the US Secret Service, and financial institutions on investigating the incident. In addition, a third-party forensics specialist has been called in. Target representatives say “they’ve identified and resolved the issue.”

“Target’s first priority is preserving the trust of our guests and we have moved swiftly to address this issue, so guests can shop with confidence. We regret any inconvenience this may cause,” explained Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Target.

“We take this matter very seriously and are working with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice.”

Target confirms that names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, and CVVs have been stolen. Customers in Canada, and those who used their credit card on the Target.com website are not affected.

Impacted customers are provided with advice on what to do to protect themselves against potential misuse of their payment card information.

For now, there’s no mention of identity protection services being offered to customers. Instead, Target advises people to periodically obtain credit reports from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion.

Other pieces of advice include keeping a close eye on account statements, and adding fraud alerts to credit report files.

Those who notice fraudulent transactions on their payment cards should contact law enforcement authorities.