MINNEAPOLIS–(ENEWSPF)–December 20, 2013. We are continuing the process of reaching out to guests across a number of channels including traditional and social media. Also, we have begun notifying, via email, those guests whose emails we have and who shopped in our U.S. stores with a credit or debit card during the period of November 27 and December 15. We expect that all emails will be sent by the end of the weekend.
It is very important for our guests to understand that receiving an email from us or a letter from their financial institution is absolutely not an indication that there has been, or will be, fraud on their card.
We continue to experience significantly higher than normal volume to our call centers and REDcard website, causing delays. We are working around the clock to resolve this issue by continually adding capacity both to our call center and technical systems to meet all of our guests’ needs. For example, in the last 24 hours we have quadrupled the capacity of our online REDcard account management site.
To date, we are hearing very few reports of actual fraud, but are closely monitoring the situation. We want to reassure guests that they will not be held financially responsible for any credit card or debit card fraud.
At this time, there is no indication that there has been any impact to PIN numbers. What this means is their bank PIN debit card or Target debit card still has this additional layer of protection. It also means that someone cannot visit an ATM with a fraudulent card and withdraw cash.
We have no indication that the data that was inappropriately accessed included a guest’s date of birth or social security number.
The CVV data that may have been impacted was data in the magnetic strip and NOT the three or four-digit code visible on the card that guests use that would allow someone to make an online purchase.
In addition, we have already alerted all of the networks (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express) and provided the affected card numbers of guests who may have been impacted. The networks, in turn, are providing the affected card numbers to the financial institutions of our guests via a “batch” or “CAMS alert.” This alert process allows card providers to take steps to enact additional fraud monitoring. For our REDcard holders, in addition to the robust fraud monitoring system we already had in place, we have added additional layers of security and fraud monitoring to their cards.
Source: target.com
