Michaels data breach
 

This has just come up on my Twitter feed. I'm trying to verify at this time.

"@BreakingNews: Arts and crafts store Michaels says federal law enforcement, outside forensics firm investigating possible data breach at stores - @Reuters"

This article gives some information:

Sources: Card Breach at Michaels Stores ? Krebs on Security

I didn't see any timing but I'm personally thinking but thinking same timeframe as Target.

The story is hitting major news outlets now
USA Today
CNN
Reuters
They are all saying the same thing though-no word on when or how many people affected.

This is getting ridiculous! I got a new card after the target Incident and haven't used it at Michaels yet. I think I am going to all cash for shopping now...

I was watching a news report about Target and they were talking about how bad it is to use debit cards and that at least with credit card,s you have less hassles with recovery. At the time I thought, no way am I going to switch using just my credit cards but now I'm thinking cash. One advantage of using cash is that I'll spend what I have on hand and credit card for any big ticket item.

Makes me wonder if I should get that lifelock or something similar...but I've heard we are covered if our credit is breeched.

Michaels data breach
 

Just dandy. Arrived in the u.s. and used my card at Michaels last week. Why oh why can't they use chip cards like canada ad 80 other counties in the world. I notice some places have the machines in place for chip cards but they are not activated to do so and I had to swipe!

Has there been any word as to when it happened and from what date so we can check if our cards are in jeopardy?

Yet another reason I'm super happy to be all cash.

Not that I ever used it before to pay for things, but DH told me to never use our debit card as a form of payment. He should feel fortunate that he married someone who detests shopping :D....less exposure to these kinds of things, right?

Canada goose, I did the same thing and I rarely shop at Michael's. I was there last week also! I wish us both luck with this one!

I have a gut feeling the breach was at the same time as Target's. Why? Because my credit card co contacted me before Christmas about odd charges and I couldn't work out what "non safe" way/place I had used my card. And I didn't shop at Target.

There may be a hidden blessing in this latest breach . If most of us go to all cash for purchases and I mean currency not even checks we will drastically cut out impulsive purchases .

I read an article on the Internet (and we ALL know that everything on the Internet is true ::cough::)) so take this with a grain of salt, but the article said that Target might be the tip of the iceberg of this breach and that there may be more retailers discovering their POS systems have been hacked as well and that we may be seeing additional retailers coming forward as they discover that their system was compromised. Neiman Marcus and Michaels coming forward might give some substantiation to this story.

I haven't seen anything on my cards yet. I was at Michaels on black Friday, but not Target. Then again at the beginning of this month. I haven't seen anything odd yet. Can't tell unless they can figure out a time frame.

Yes the network news media reported (I think last week) that four other major retails were effected by same hacker as Target but refuse to name the stores! How is the damaged supposed to get contained if we don't even know where the threat is coming from. May not be convenient but.... Cash is king!

I have to admit that I always use my credit card, or Paypal for any online purchase these days. If I use my CC, I just go straight to online banking and make a credit card payment to pay it off. Having 3 times been caught out by card fraud/bank account fraud, I never ever use my debit card online anymore. The oddest part of our being defrauded was that on each occasion, it was my Hubbys card that was used. When we are out shopping, 99 times out of a hundred, it will be me who pays. I probably used my debit card online a hundred to his one, so you would have expected it to be mine that was used. I figure that if the credit card gets hacked, at least its not my money they're spending.

It's not like we could even go back to writing checks as lots of places won't take them anymore! I don't like carrying cash around but I guess we'll do what we have to do.

[QUOTE=Diane Long;20501593]How is the damaged supposed to get contained if we don't even know where the threat is coming from. [QUOTE]

The article that I read said that they had identified these hackers as Russians and Ukranians.

Here's a pretty good update and it includes some interesting detail in findings so far:
Target breach takes shape: Hints at malware and hackers - NBC News.com

Last week I called my bank to see if they had any info as to what additional stores were involved in the breach, they did not.

At that time they told me I could replace my debit and credit cards if I wanted, just to protect myself. As I did not shop at Target but I am just worried as other stores, but since Michaels just announced their breach I am being safe. I will replace both my debit and credit cards but one at a time.

Michaels data breach
 

I as a former banker decided to be pro active. I called Visa directly and of this morning they claimed to have no info on this possible breach ( spoke to fraud dept). I decided to get this particular card revoked as I also have another one a well to use and I never use my debit card anywhere except in Canada.

Now I won't have to keep watching my account daily for fraudulent purchases. I hate to say this but last year once again our credit card was compromised here, fortunately as soon as it happened Visa put a block on it and it had not been used, so it had just happened. The sooner the merchants here use the Same chip technology that Canada and most other countries use, the better for everyone. So rather than wait to see how the plays out with Michaels, I am glad I am I took matters into my own hands.

Chip and pin is great for instore use, I used to get fed up with signing slips in certain stores, and watching the assistants not even glance at the sig on the card to see if it matched. Once or twice I was tempted to sign as Donald Duck! I'd even had my card handed back to me before I signed in one particular DIY chain. The problem comes in when hackers etc use the cards/information online, which is what most of them do. Chip & Pin doesn't help then.For that reason I'd advise anyone who even faintly suspects they may have used their card somewhere thats been hacked to cancel it & get a new one.

shazsilverwolf - I can't remember the website, but there was a guy who DID sign his card with totally bogus signatures and sketches and noone EVER questioned it. He even signed once with "this card was stolen" and wasn't questioned until he tried buying some massive $$ amount of electronics.

Of course, I can't find the site that it's on anymore, but it was really eye-opening.

Michaels data breach
 

In canada when you put in your chip card it does not require a signature as you and only you know the PIN number. Until you put in your PIN number the transaction will not go through as it will keep on rejecting. That is the way our cards work.

This is so true. They did a study about how our brain processes credit, debit and cash purchases. The cash was far less pleasurable for our brain, which is another reason it may help curb spending. Oh, and you can't spend what you don't have.

I just don't like the idea of carrying cash around. We pay our credit cards in full each month so don't spend more than we can afford &using a debit card helps keep track of where the $$is going. Cash just tends to vanish

Ditto. I don't use Quicken money tracker anymore, but it was far easier for me to sync credit/debit purchases than to remember where that $20 cash I took out when buying groceries went or keep all receipts until I could log it in the program. Also, my bank and credit card offer some protection if someone gets my cards, but there's no protection if a thief takes my bag or my wallet falls out carrying all my spending cash.

I have a friend that does that... he signs with Mickey Mouse or just a bunch of smileys... and no one has said anything. Just goes to show how people pay attention :-(

I live in Germany where we have the same/similar system Canada does - you have to enter a PIN for the payment to go through. Wrong PIN or three wrong entries and your card is blocked. For online shopping I use a prepaid credit card - this way they can only take what the balance is, and its usually very low ;)

That is the general system over here now, and has been for 5 or so years. Before that, you signed a slip at the till. Having worked in retail in the past, and having been the subject of fraud, I used to get furious at people who did not check the sigs matched. But very few ever did look at it properly. I agree chip & pin is much better, it has cut in store frauds quite a lot, unfortunately, as I mentioned, it does not help with online fraud, and thats where most hackers etc use the info.
To be honest, I don't worry what would happen if someone was to use hacked credit card details- its not my money they're using! And the banks are pretty hot on the case when its their money going astray!

If I understood a greater concern correctly, it's if the hackers stole personal data including social security information, they could open new credit cards and applications for credit to make big purchases and it would be a while before you would become aware of that unless you were checking your credit reports to insure that there is new credit forms appearing on your report....i.e. the concern of identity theft

I think that is the concern with Target card. But how would they get that info from Michaels?

Just seen this posted up on FB, by ESET, possibly the best online security system ever' I'm posting the link here , it gives very good advice on how to help keep yourself safe in the wake of these card revelations.
Apparently Neimann Marcus are now saying their customers could have been at risk for almost 6 months!
Highly recommend joining up to a data monitoring system, if you don't have one already. We did after the second time, now we get a monthly statement telling us whats happening with our profile. This way you see if anything is being applied for in your name, via the credit checks.

It would depend on the information and depth of the information that was hacked and stolen from the cards used - not yet determined.

The article below gives some info on how to monitor (I'm sure like many others)

Michaels Reports Possible Data Breach - Yahoo Finance

this is very true. on Thursday I used my bank debit card at a Michaels and in the 15 minutes it took me to get home and see my email that my purchase was complete (an alert I have set on there after getting hit with that Target fraud), another popped up, then another. So in 15 minutes time I had 7 charges all originating in the UK and GB for a total of over $960.00 out of my account !! I am in Kansas City, MO. They are working on fixing it but had to cancel my debit card - again and have to wait up to a month to get the funds back after they have time to prove it wasn't me. I am sick over all of this. What is wrong with people? I am afraid to go buy groceries tomorrow now.

Oh Debi I am so sorry.

Here's another report on something to watch for
Got a Charge for $9.84 ?

Oh swell! One more thing for me to watch for :(

I either need a secretary or I need to become a non-consumer

Oh Debi that is awful!!

So I had used my credit card 3 or 4 times at Michael's since late last fall.

So last night I called Visa. I had reviewed my paper statements through 1/7/14, and they read off all the charges that had occurred since then. All was OK.

So I explained my concern about Michael's and that I was worried since I had used my card there. The agent wasn't aware about Michael's. He then looked a list and found it. I asked if he should put a notation on my account of the potential misuse and he said not necessary, that their fraud practices were very good. He also said it was a "very long list" of stores with breaches that among others, Michael's was listed on. Now there's a warm fuzzy feeling.

He said I could monitor online any new charges. He said to go set up an account; give my social security number, my credit card number, and set it up. I asked why do they need my social security number? He said not to worry, their security was very good. At that I just laughed out loud, given the "very long list" of data breaches that he was looking at.

So I decided no way was I opening a web account that required my SS# and my CC# just to get a login.

This is my concern that there are a lot of stores with security breaches that are keeping silent about them.First Target then Neman Marcus now Michael's .

It appears stores don't want us to know how unsafe using any cards can be .