Have you guys started shopping at Target again?

[Guest]

I haven't gone back to Target since the security breach was revealed. I'm still waiting for Target to say "Hey, we discovered where the breach occurred, and we figured out how to make sure it doesn't happen again." I still haven't heard from Target that they figured out what went wrong, and what steps they've taken to correct their mistake. Is that too much to ask?

[bigvalboy]

I haven't gone back to Target since the security breach was revealed. I'm still waiting for Target to say "Hey, we discovered where the breach occurred, and we figured out how to make sure it doesn't happen again." I still haven't heard from Target that they figured out what went wrong, and what steps they've taken to correct their mistake. Is that too much to ask?

 

I could be wrong, since I'm really not following the story that closely, but I thought I heard where they had found the breach and fixed it. I think they found the problem early on. The only thing that I thought was unclear, was whether or not PIN codes were compromised. That being said, I most always use cash when shopping, and so yes, I have been back to Target.

[adriano46]

Passed through TARGET yesterday but did not purchase anything. Saw less people than usual -- might have been the hour? Anyway I was not planning on using my personal credit cards (don't TRAGET only take their own??) and was not carrying enough cash so I just walked through.

[Bosguy]

I have not returned to Target and the one near me is extremely slow from newspaper accounts. They found that the problem was in the card swipe which had been compromised (the swipe apparently contains ALL information about the card holder), but, to me, they haven't been specific enough to assure people it has been completely rectified. The PIN #'s or manually entered data was not compromised because this data was not on the strip

 

Boston Bill

[+ poolboy48220]

Anyway I was not planning on using my personal credit cards (don't TRAGET only take their own??)

No, they take regular non-Target credit cards. I can't imagine them growing to their current size if they required that you get their credit card. One of the major retailers (Sears, I think?) tried that for a bit sometime in the 80's or 90's; I tried to buy something there, the cashier said they only took their store cards, so I apologized for wasting her time and left.

[+ azdr0710]

One of the major retailers (Sears, I think?) tried that for a bit sometime in the 80's or 90's; I tried to buy something there, the cashier said they only took their store cards, so I apologized for wasting her time and left.

 

 

yes, I remember that, too, PB.....tried to pay with a good-ol'-fashioned Visa/MC and she told me that.....wow, big (arrogant) mistake by some higher-ups at Sears or whichever store it was....that policy has been rectified now, of course....even the down-home local community coffee shop, which used to be cash only, now takes plastic....

[bigvalboy]

yes, I remember that, too, PB.....tried to pay with a good-ol'-fashioned Visa/MC and she told me that.....wow, big (arrogant) mistake by some higher-ups at Sears or whichever store it was....that policy has been rectified now, of course....even the down-home local community coffee shop, which used to be cash only, now takes plastic....

 

Hell, I saw it first in LA, but now in FTL, you can even pay with plastic at some of the parking meters.

[rvwnsd]

I haven't gone back to Target since the security breach was revealed. I'm still waiting for Target to say "Hey, we discovered where the breach occurred, and we figured out how to make sure it doesn't happen again." I still haven't heard from Target that they figured out what went wrong, and what steps they've taken to correct their mistake. Is that too much to ask?

 

As BVB said, they have done exactly what you are looking for. Their CEO has explained in the media what went wrong, they have sent emails to customers whose emails they have on file (their own cardholders), and gave all customers a 10% discount on everything the weekend before Christmas as a way of apologizing. I read the stories about their findings in the New York Times and the LA Times and heard the story on NPR.

 

Quick question: Do you shop at Cost Plus World Market, Office Depot, the TJ Maxx group of stores, or buy gas at Mobil? Those are a few of the many major retailers who have experienced large-scale breaches and never explained how they occurred. They also did not request the assistance of the FBI, as Target did.

 

I have not returned to Target and the one near me is extremely slow from newspaper accounts...

 

That's interesting. All three of the Targets near me are as packed as usual. I went shopping there the day after the problem was reported and it was packed.

 

...They found that the problem was in the card swipe which had been compromised...

 

Actually, they found that their posit of sale software was infected with malware.

 

...(the swipe apparently contains ALL information about the card holder)...

 

Not quite. The credit card terminal reads the information contained on the magnetic strip but it does not store the information. The magnetic stripe contains information about the card, not the cardholder. It includes the card number, the cardholder's name, the expiration date, and the CVC code (those three digits printed on the far right of the signature panel). It does not contain address information, SSN, or other information about the cardholder.

 

...The PIN #'s or manually entered data was not compromised because this data was not on the strip...

 

PIN data was stolen, but the data was encrypted. Because the breach was in the POS system, the card records that were stolen included the information that was entered by swiping the card and by entering data on the pin pad (e.g., the PIN). The pin pads encrypt the PIN before sending to the POS system.

 

...(Sears, I think?) tried that for a bit sometime in the 80's or 90's; I tried to buy something there, the cashier said they only took their store cards, so I apologized for wasting her time and left.

 

Sears accepted only their proprietary card and Discover (which they owned at the time) until the early 1990's when they began to accept VISA and MasterCard. Although Target has its own credit and debit cards, they have always accepted the major credit cards, debit cards, and ATM cards.

 

Although I am not happy that Target's POS system was compromised, I am satisfied with their response and have not and will not change my shopping habits.

[Bosguy]

As BVB said, they have done exactly what you are looking for. Their CEO has explained in the media what went wrong, they have sent emails to customers whose emails they have on file (their own cardholders), and gave all customers a 10% discount on everything the weekend before Christmas as a way of apologizing. I read the stories about their findings in the New York Times and the LA Times and heard the story on NPR.

 

Quick question: Do you shop at Cost Plus World Market, Office Depot, the TJ Maxx group of stores, or buy gas at Mobil? Those are a few of the many major retailers who have experienced large-scale breaches and never explained how they occurred. They also did not request the assistance of the FBI, as Target did.

 

 

 

That's interesting. All three of the Targets near me are as packed as usual. I went shopping there the day after the problem was reported and it was packed.

 

 

 

Actually, they found that their posit of sale software was infected with malware.

 

 

 

Not quite. The credit card terminal reads the information contained on the magnetic strip but it does not store the information. The magnetic stripe contains information about the card, not the cardholder. It includes the card number, the cardholder's name, the expiration date, and the CVC code (those three digits printed on the far right of the signature panel). It does not contain address information, SSN, or other information about the cardholder.

 

 

 

PIN data was stolen, but the data was encrypted. Because the breach was in the POS system, the card records that were stolen included the information that was entered by swiping the card and by entering data on the pin pad (e.g., the PIN). The pin pads encrypt the PIN before sending to the POS system.

 

 

 

Sears accepted only their proprietary card and Discover (which they owned at the time) until the early 1990's when they began to accept VISA and MasterCard. Although Target has its own credit and debit cards, they have always accepted the major credit cards, debit cards, and ATM cards.

 

Although I am not happy that Target's POS system was compromised, I am satisfied with their response and have not and will not change my shopping habits.

 

Thanks for clarifying all these issues. I really appreciate it.

 

Boston Bill

[+ Gar1eth]

Hell, I saw it first in LA, but now in FTL, you can even pay with plastic at some of the parking meters.

 

You've been able to do this for years in Seattle.

 

Gman

[bigvalboy]

Although I am not happy that Target's POS system was compromised, I am satisfied with their response and have not and will not change my shopping habits.

 

I agree, and while I much prefer cash when purchasing items retail, it is not always realistic or practical. I did use a debit card once within the dates that Target mentioned, and B of A has been fantastic with their customer service. I did not hesitate to shop at Target during Christmas, and the Target near me was packed. I believe chain wide they saw a drop of 3%.

[corndog]

Throughout this scandal, I never stopped shopping at Target.

 

Credit card fraud is primarily an issue for banks, not consumers. It is, however, in the banks' best interest to make sure their customers are as paranoid as possible about credit card fraud, so they remain vigilant and help protect the banks. The media plays into this hype and contributes to the hysteria, because it makes good news.

 

U.S. credit card laws ensure that consumers are never liable for fraudulent use of their cards, and if you make a timely dispute of any charge, it is the responsibility of the bank to prove that the charge is valid, not your responsibility to prove that it is fraudulent. Debit cards are little trickier because the bank may make your funds unavailable while they investigate, but ultimately you can't be held liable for fraudulent charges.

 

(Identity theft is another issue, which is of concern to consumers, but breaches like this don't include the information needed for identity theft, i.e. SSN, birthdate, address, etc.)

 

I'll also acknowledge that being a victim of credit card fraud is inconvenient. It'll necessitate some time on the phone with your bank, and it's a hassle to change the account number on any automatic payments that you have set up. However, through responsible use of credit cards, I've earned hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer miles in the last few years, and flew all over the place for free. Totally worth the occasional hassle.

[+ Robster]

Throughout this scandal, I never stopped shopping at Target.

+1

 

And amen to the rest of what he said as well. I've been inconvenienced by credit card fraud a few times over the years, but it's never cost me a cent.

 

Rob

[rvwnsd]

Thanks for clarifying all these issues. I really appreciate it.

 

Boston Bill

 

You are welcome! I'm glad to share the knowledge. It is useless if not shared.

 

Happy New Year.

[rvwnsd]

...Credit card fraud is primarily an issue for banks, not consumers. It is, however, in the banks' best interest to make sure their customers are as paranoid as possible about credit card fraud, so they remain vigilant and help protect the banks. The media plays into this hype and contributes to the hysteria, because it makes good news...

 

Although you are correct insofar as consumers are protected from incurring a loss if the card issuer is notified by the consumer within 60 days of the billing cycle in which the charge occurred, there is an indirect cost for consumers. The merchant (not the card issuer) bears the brunt of the cost of fraudulent activity in the form of a "chargeback." A chargeback occurs when a consumer reports a suspicious transaction and the merchant can't prove the customer initiated the charge. As the name implies, the card issuer reverses the charge and the merchant loses the money. The card issuer and the transaction processor bear the cost of administering credit card fraud operations, such as the 24/7 card fraud hotline, the research clerk who works on the case, the BSA/AML agent who looks for money laundering, and the systems required to keep track of all this work. Guess how the merchants and card issuers/processors pay for all of this? They bake it into the price of the goods and services they sell.

 

Although I disagree with those who expect the executives of Target to be strung up on national television while some anchorman shoots thumb tacks at them, the problem of credit and debit card fraud is real.

[corndog]

there is an indirect cost for consumers.

... agree completely. Thanks for expanding on the technicalities of what I was saying. My point was simply that we all should not be overly individually concerned about being the direct victims of credit card fraud. However, it's still an important issue for the greater common good.

[+ deej]

Sears accepted only their proprietary card and Discover (which they owned at the time) until the early 1990's when they began to accept VISA and MasterCard. Although Target has its own credit and debit cards, they have always accepted the major credit cards, debit cards, and ATM cards.

 

Although I am not happy that Target's POS system was compromised, I am satisfied with their response and have not and will not change my shopping habits.

 

Aye. The POS system contained the breach. Note that Target did not create it. It was purchased/licensed from outside vendors. Target was probably as much a victim here as its customers (in that wacky bizarro 21st century way).

 

I actually have (and sometimes use) a Target credit card. As store cards go, it's not a bad one to have. The interest rate is high like all of them but it's far from the worst and if you pay the card off every month you don't pay interest anyway. AND using their credit card gives you a 5% discount on every purchase at Target. All of them. Apple almost never discounts, for example, but use your Target card to buy an iPad at Target and get a 5% discount.

[Tighty]

I don't shop at target.

[dannyboynyc]

This is slightly off topic - it's about Target but not the credit card issue. Target has a very large, very active, LGBTA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally) Employee Resource Group. At the Annual Out & Equal Workshop Summit - a conference for LGBTA Employee Resource Groups of many large companies, Target is well represented both in conference sponsorship, participation and workshop presentation. Target's LGBTA Employee Resource Group was very active in working with the company to evaluate future political contributions after the contribution was made to a very conservative representative a few years ago.

 

This is a large reason for me to shop at Target.