OT Target Hacked

[Dean Hoffman]

The discounter Target had their site hacked. Something like forty million debit and credit accounts could be affected. Article here:

[krw]

AIUI, they got the PINs to go with the account numbers. That could really be bad for a lot of people.

[Mark Lloyd]

Maybe it's a good thing I forgot to go there this season.

[Ralph Mowery]

My son had his debit card number hacked from Target. Wiped out about $ 600 from his account. I am not sure but thought I told him not to have a debit card, but have a credit card. While I think he will get his money back, it is going to take a couple of weeks. I loaned him some money so Christmas would not be spoiled for him.

If he had a credit account, they could just take off the charge or send it back to the store. Not so with a stupid debit card.

The daughter in law caught this empting of the account about an hour after it hapened.

Spent about $ 50,000 to send him to school where he took business courses. He is a senor annalist for softwear for a company and still let this hapen to him.

[krw]

It really doesn't matter all that much. If the PIN isn't compromised (i.e. the perp used it as a credit transaction), there really is no difference. Contact the bank and they'll take care of it through Visa, or whomever.

Not true. As long as the transaction went through the credit system, it's covered just as a credit card would be. If he compromised the PIN, he has to collect from his bank. A decent bank won't give you any trouble but don't count on the megabanks.

What's that got to do with it? He didn't "let" anything happen to him.

Oh, good grief!

[Ed Pawlowski]

He needs a better bank. I have the same protection with my DC as my CC. Had the card stolen and used. My money was back in the next day.

[bob haller]

me too my wife at the time dropped her debit card at a gas station, someone found and used it for 300 bucks. the system caught the fradulent use and shut down the card. bank called her and money back in a day or two.

I am now much better off divorced:)

[krw]

Without the PIN, right? Without the PIN they use the CC (VISA or MC, normally) network. The rules for the CC networks are the same whether it's a CC or DC. The rules are different for DC used without pins (debit networks). The chances that the bank will cover it is still very good. It is sometimes more difficult to deal with banks than VISA or MC, though.

I had my debit card compromised by Horror Fright a couple of months ago. Since they didn't get the PIN, it was a simple matter of having the bank reverse the charge from VISA. They said that it would have been significantly more difficult if it had been their network. I try to not use the PIN at all, anymore.

Hopefully, the outcome will be better security, but I doubt it. No one seems to consider it to be a priority.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Without the PIN. The bank does say thry cover you in any case, but I can see why they would check out a PIN transaction. I imagine many of them are family members sneaking off with mom's card.

[Ralph Mowery]

Maybe he does need a beter bank.

I don't know the differance if any for the rules of a debit card vers credit card. Just that he was told if it was a CC he could get his charge taken off right a way but for the debit card he used it would take about 2 weeks.

One thing I noticed that a DC can somehow hold more back than you actually use. That is if you buy $ 10 worth of stuff , they might put a $ 100 hold on your money. Do that at several places in one day and you are out of money. Not really out, but just lots of it on hold.

I'll still stick to my credit card that gives me a rebate.

[Kurt Ullman]

Most gas stations do that for $75, although they all seem to have sticker on the pump (that can actually be seen) that indicate it.

[Dean Hoffman]

Some of the gas stations require one to type in the zip code of the card's owner. I noticed it first in Missouri.

[Ralph Mowery]

That has been going on for sometime in North Carolina at some stations.

Not sure what good it does, but a time or two that I hit the wrong numbers, I had to try again.

[Kurt Ullman]

That part about hitting the wrong numbers and try again should be an indicator of the good it does. Cloned cards are harder to use under these circumstances.

[DerbyDad03]

I found a gas station near me that has the cheapest gas in the area once the 10 cent cash discount is applied. The thing is, the pumps consider a debit card to be cash, so I don't have to have cash or go inside. Insert debit card, enter pin, and the pump sets itself to the cash price.

Sweet!

[Kurt Ullman]

Wonder how long it will take for someone to notice since DC have fees attached.

[DerbyDad03]

I've been getting gas there for over 6 months, so who knows.

You would think that with any type of rudimentary accounting, they would have figured it out by now. Unless I'm one of very few people with know about it, the numbers at the end of the day wouldn't add up. When they compare the amount of gas sold at the cash price to the amount of gas related cash purchases at the counter, I'd think there would be a big discrepancy.

[Roy]

Thank gawd that I have never shopped at TARGET and most likely will never do so.

[Ralph Mowery]

I don't know what the charges are for debit cards as I do not use them.

A station where I have bought gas for many years starting charging about 6 cents more per gallon for credit cards, but not for debit cards. I changed stations.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I only know what my bank does with a Master Card tagged DC. They apply the same rules.

My bank never holds anything back. Some cards will put some money on hold for pay at the pump for gas. Some restaurants will put an extra

20% on hold so you can add a tip and be covered. As I said, maybe you need a better bank.

Whatever works for you.

Given the problems with both DC and CC information being stolen, I now use cash for anything less than $200 just to minimize the number of transactions.