Target Black Friday 2013 Fraud: Stolen Debit and Credit Cards Already for Sale on Black Market

Target Black Friday 2013 Fraud: Stolen credit and debit card accounts are already flooding underground black markets. The cards were stolen during a security breach at Target stores starting on Black Friday 2013.  The cards are being sold in batches of one million cards.

According to KrebsOnSecurity, the Target Black Friday cards are being sold from around $20 to more than $100 each. The Target Black Friday incident is the second-largest credit card breach in U.S. history. In 2005 at least 45.7 million card users were scammed in a breach involving retailer TJX Cos.

KrebsOnSecurity is a security news site that has been on top of the Target Black Friday breach. KrebsOnSecurity says there are hundreds of online stores worldwide that sell stolen credit and debit cards from banks. Their reporters spoke to a fraud analyst at a major bank. The analyst said his team infiltrated an online store that advertised in cybercrime forums. The store advertised itself as a place where thieves can buy stolen cards. The fraud analayst was able to buy a portion of the bank's accounts.

The fraud analyst said the purchase was made before the Target Black Friday breach was announced.  40 million credit and debit card customers were affected when Target, the nation's second-retailer, was hit by a data breach. Customers who shopped at Target after Thanksgiving through Dec. 15 are susceptible to fraud. Target announced it will offer a 10% discount as a credit fraud apology.

On Saturday JPMorgan Chase contacted about 2 million affected debit card members Saturday and said they would be limited to a maximum of $100 cash withdrawals and $300 in purchases per day. Chase put daily cash and spending limits on debit cards that were used at Target stores that could be susceptible to fraud. In the middle of Christmas shopping season Chase spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau said less than 10 percent of Chase customers are affected.

Chase customers will be limited to withdrawing no more than $100 a day from ATMs on debit cards affected by the Target Black Friday Breach. The stolen data included names, numbers, expiration dates and data taken from the magnetic strip when credit or debit cards are swiped.

In a statement issued on Friday Target's CEO Gregg Steinhafel apologized and said Target added workers to field calls and help solve website issues. Target is also offering free credit-monitoring services to those who've been affected by the issue.

On Friday, Target reiterated that the stolen data included customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the embedded code on the magnetic strip found on the backs of cards, Target said.

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world news
Target
black friday 2013
black market
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