Were you one of millions of victims of the recent Target breach!?! I (Litsa) was….I only shop there once in a blue moon but I was at the wrong place at the wrong time! Luckily, I didn’t use a Target credit/debit card that seems as IF it was compromised the most!?! I used a personal Discover Card that has a capped limit on my spending. And it is in fact a card that I monitor closely…….
Or is it!?! How closely should I be monitoring this Target data breach!?! Should we….
I have an email from Target sitting in my inbox awaiting my attention:
“I am truly sorry this incident occurred and sincerely regret any inconvenience it may cause you. Because we value you as a guest and your trust is important to us, Target is offering one year of free credit monitoring to all Target guests who shopped in U.S. stores, through Experian’s® ProtectMyID® product which includes identity theft insurance where available. To receive your unique activation code for this service, please go to creditmonitoring.target.com and register before April 23, 2014. Activation codes must be redeemed by April 30, 2014.”
Time is of the essence if I am (or if you are) going to take advantage of this free credit monitoring service. However, Andy Wise, a local West Tennessee investigator/reporter noted this week that this IS NOT ENOUGH. He stated that consumer reports made this same implication and that “The problem is that each of the three major credit bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian can collect different information. So unless you’re checking all of them, you can miss someone trying to steal your identity and open new credit.”
Thus, where do we turn for help!?!
“Consumer Reports says most of the security protections you can put in place yourself are free or low cost, so there is no need to get expensive data monitoring services. For more advice on how to protect yourself against identity theft go to the Federal Trade Commission’s website at consumer.ftc.gov and search “identity theft.””
Time is of the essence in protecting yourself—ourselves. This is one task that cannot remain on our personal and/or family to do lists. It needs our immediate attention.
If you were affected by this Target Data Breach, have you followed up on protecting yourself/your family? If so, how!?!
Andy Wise/Channel Five Credit on Current Information
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