the random musings not worthy of new thread thread

[Eagaholic]

They type of capitalism we are living under now has degenerated to a point where any vestige of ethics is being replaced with cold risk management. If a company sees a profit in doing something illegal or morally corrupt it doesn't matter who it might hurt. It is analyzed and if the gain will likely outweigh any lawsuits, fines, PR hits etc. without the officers having liability, it gets the green light.

[Eagaholic]

If you've shopped at Target recently, you might want to double check your credit/debit statement

The Secret Service is investigating a reported credit card data breach at discount retailer Target.

Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary confirmed the investigation to CNN Wednesday evening. He declined to comment further.

According to a report from KrebsonSecurity.com, the breach involves "potentially millions of customer credit and debit records."

The website reported it affects "nearly all Target locations nationwide" and "involves theft of data stored on the magnetic stripe of cards used at the stores."

Target did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

Krebs reported that the breach apparently targeted customers at stores rather than online shoppers. The thieves reportedly gained access to data on the magnetic strips of shoppers' cards, potentially allowing them to produce counterfeit versions.

The thieves could also potentially withdraw cash from ATMs using counterfeit debit cards if they were able to intercept PIN data from Target, Krebs said.

It's believed the hack began on or around Black Friday and might have lasted until Dec. 15.

An American Express spokeswoman said the company was "aware of the incident" and was "putting fraud controls in place."

"This is an ongoing investigation," she said, declining to comment further.

A MasterCard spokesman referred questions to Target; Visa and Discover did not respond to requests for comment.


CNN contributed to this report.

Many stories surfacing now from people who had their cc accounts hacked and fraudulently charged elsewhere, apparently with Target offering little help to resolve the problem and withholding news of the hack from public release. I guess this could also have gone into the wtf is wrong with this world thread.

[Seabiscuit36]

If you've shopped at Target recently, you might want to double check your credit/debit statement

The Secret Service is investigating a reported credit card data breach at discount retailer Target.

Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary confirmed the investigation to CNN Wednesday evening. He declined to comment further.

According to a report from KrebsonSecurity.com, the breach involves "potentially millions of customer credit and debit records."

The website reported it affects "nearly all Target locations nationwide" and "involves theft of data stored on the magnetic stripe of cards used at the stores."

Target did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

Krebs reported that the breach apparently targeted customers at stores rather than online shoppers. The thieves reportedly gained access to data on the magnetic strips of shoppers' cards, potentially allowing them to produce counterfeit versions.

The thieves could also potentially withdraw cash from ATMs using counterfeit debit cards if they were able to intercept PIN data from Target, Krebs said.

It's believed the hack began on or around Black Friday and might have lasted until Dec. 15.

An American Express spokeswoman said the company was "aware of the incident" and was "putting fraud controls in place."

"This is an ongoing investigation," she said, declining to comment further.

A MasterCard spokesman referred questions to Target; Visa and Discover did not respond to requests for comment.


CNN contributed to this report.

Many stories surfacing now from people who had their cc accounts hacked and fraudulently charged elsewhere, apparently with Target offering little help to resolve the problem and withholding news of the hack from public release. I guess this could also have gone into the wtf is wrong with this world thread.

It happens with all the major retailers where they withhold the information as long as they possibly can, see TJmaxx/Bj's/DSW etc.  They'd prefer to have the banks deal with it, and not check their internal processes. 

[Diomedes]

You mean the banks who guarantee refunds to consumers, then tell the retailers...not paying you, that was fraud..your problem.  Then the stores jack prices so in the end, we all pay for it while the banks glad hand each other about how fair they are to cardholders?

[phillycrew]

The fact is, there aren't enough jobs that pay a living wage.  Outsourcing, automation, etc. have been steadily eliminating jobs that pay a decent, family supporting wage. 

The society/country has a very serious problem with this.  What do you do with millions of potential workers if you just don't have jobs for them that offer a dignified living. 

Toll booth operators, for example, fit this description perfectly.  Exceedingly simple, very low skill job that once upon a time hundreds of thousands of Americans held.  Unions kept the wages high enough so if you were a reliable person who didn't steal, showed up every day, etc., you could make a modest but respectable living.  With another full time worker in the house, you could afford to own your home.

Yeeah...those days are gone.  My children will wonder one day, did people really sit in booths all day long taking money from people by hand? 

Progress, I get it...but where do those people go now?  They can't all go get bachelor's degrees in computer science.  They can't all push on from that to get masters degrees. 

Where do all these people like toll booth collectors go when there literally aren't enough jobs for everyone to make an honest living?

We need to let supply and demand actually start to work.  Construction jobs should not be allowed to use illegal immigrants and every one of the employers that skirt the law, needs to be shut down or fined heavily.  People complain about jobs that americans won't do.  I disagree.  Americans would do it if the wages rose to a level that made it attractive.  My great grandfather was a bricklayer and made enough to support a family.  He actually built the house they lived in while they all lived in a garage....that he built.

[Eagaholic]

What is the most farged up about Target and the other companies hiding the hack info is that they won't give a heads up to all their customers so they can protect themselves by monitoring their accounts. It's a case of the corporations getting too big for their breaches.

[Seabiscuit36]

It has no bearing on you as a customer other than your cc company will reissue new account #'s to you.  Honestly, you can monitor all day, but what are you going to do.  Its not ID theft, its skimming with some additional information. 

[Sgt PSN]

What is the most farged up about Target and the other companies hiding the hack info is that they won't give a heads up to all their customers so they can protect themselves by monitoring their accounts.

I get what you're saying and kind of agree with it, but at the same time, there's no reason for people to not be monitoring their accounts anyway....not these days, anyway. I never go more than 48 hrs without checking my accounts online. Takes all of 5 minutes. I don't need Target telling me to do something that I should already be doing in the first place. 

The only reason they should be open about it once it's discovered is to make the public aware of the issue so consumers don't walk into Target unaware of what's going on. Of course, that would probably steer some people away from Target for a few days until the problem is resolved and we just can't have that, now, can we?

It's a case of the corporations getting too big for their breaches.

lol

[Eagaholic]

The information copied from credit cards can potentially be used to create duplicate counterfeit cards that can be used anywhere at a point of sale (and as reported also the possibility of debit cards used to make withdrawals from ATMs). I would think time is of the essence  - I'd want to know right away to watch my account activity and nip it in the bud if there's any fraud going on or especially if they could later hack into my bank account from a debit card. The media reports I'm seeing on line say the thieves will often make small purchases to check if the card is functional  and 'safe' to try before making large purchases. Additionally, there is just something sleezey about not making a public statement until they are caught.

[Dillen]

What is the most farged up about Target and the other companies hiding the hack info is that they won't give a heads up to all their customers so they can protect themselves by monitoring their accounts.

I get what you're saying and kind of agree with it, but at the same time, there's no reason for people to not be monitoring their accounts anyway....not these days, anyway. I never go more than 48 hrs without checking my accounts online. Takes all of 5 minutes. I don't need Target telling me to do something that I should already be doing in the first place. 

Somewhat related, did you guys know that some banks will call you before going through with a suspicious transaction? Ladyfriend's information got taken and used a few weeks ago (hasn't been to Target in awhile, asked her after reading this, lols). The charges were far and away from her location, and she had used her card earlier that day. She was pissed because her bank didn't monitor and call her to ask if these charges were her - apparently a past bank she had did that.

This surprised the hell out of me, because my information was stolen a couple years ago - someone got an online speed dating account and bought $300 worth of international phone calls within 20 minutes, pretty funny. This was nowhere near where I was, but my bank never called me.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Both Chase & USAA will send me texts if I try to run my card at an ATM or online and it is outside of my normal purchase area or is suspicious to them. I then reply yes or no if it is known and that's it. I have Comerica as an account that I use for some small day to day transactions but I just began using them so I don't know how they work.

AMEX and Discover both have called me when I was making a big purchase.

[Eagaholic]

I used to have a recurring monthly charge on a storage unit and Citi would call me every other month and leave a message about an early fraud warning. Weird that they would only call every 2 or 3 months. It took about 3 calls on my part to finally get them to be able to stop the messages for that charge. It's good they do that but it is inconsistent so like Sarge said, better to keep up with it yourself and not depend on them.

[ice grillin you]

i got a call from my cc company last week because i went xmas shopping and made numerous transactions within an afternoon...and none of them was over a hundred dollars

[Seabiscuit36]

nm

[Dillen]

better to keep up with it yourself and not depend on them.

Yeah. The problem is that even when you do check it frequently, it doesn't stop someone from using the card. That's why the bank or card company calling or monitoring at the time of purchase would be a big deal. When I had my information stolen, I saw the charges in my account 20 minutes later and was already out $500 that I wouldn't get back for a couple weeks.