@OmSigDAVID,
Quote:There might be fighting over which charges are legitimate; low limits on the card will reduce the size of the purchases in dispute.
That's true.
The shoppers in this situation really have to cancel those credit cards and have new ones issued, and get new debit cards as well, and when you cancel a credit card, or get a new one, I think that does affect your credit score from the three major reporting companies, it does lower it slightly.
All of the breached card info can be used anywhere in the world to make purchases, and I heard there already is increased internet chatter suggesting some of these stolen card numbers are already for sale, and, since they also have the security code for each card, those who buy the data can easily make internet purchases. The magnitude of this type of crime is enormous. What was fairly unique about this one at the Target stores was that they captured the data at the point of sale, when the cards were swiped, at almost 1800 stores, so it may have involved the data processing center for Target.
Whoever pulled off this crime is going to make an
enormous haul from it, and the probability that they will get away with it is rather good. It's really an impressive crime. The damage to the banks and merchants, from fraudulent use of the card info, is going to be considerable because 40 million cards are involved.
And it may put a damper on people's in-store shopping at other retailers, beside Target, just before Christmas, when these stores are doing their maximum push to get people to buy.
I'm glad I didn't shop at Target, but you don't know where this kind of security breach could happen next...it's a very lucrative crime to pull off.