Target shoppers should be on the lookout for unauthorized credit card activity. According to the store approximately 40 million credit cards numbers and other subsequent information was in their words “effected by a data breach” in late Nov and early Dec as the Holiday shopping season was just getting underway.

The exact dates quoted by the company were Nov 27 – Dec 15 and the stolen data includes everything from names, numbers, expiration and even the security codes on the back of the card.  This theft of information was restricted to the brick and mortar stores and no on-line purchases were infiltrated.

The theft was across many credit card platforms including Master card, Visa and even Target’s own store cards.

The problem since has been fixed but the advice from Target Corp is for customers to check their statements carefully. If you see any suspicious charges on the cards should report it to their credit card companies and call Target at 866-852-8680. Cases of identity theft can also be reported to law enforcement or the Federal Trade Commission.

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