Amex For Target Fraud Alert
- Thread starter Matt
- Start date
Jose A
Level 2 Member
I had both of mine replaced last month after one was unloaded (1k) within days of loading it by someone I do not know. I am in California yet the damage was done in Tampa, FL. That person (or persons) spent a few hours "spending" my money one day while my card was on my desk in CA.
Amex took care it pretty quickly. Its response to this and other major headaches is the reason I choose to keep my regular Amex.
Amex took care it pretty quickly. Its response to this and other major headaches is the reason I choose to keep my regular Amex.
Haley
I am not a robot
In general a breach is not related to a type of card, but rather where it has been used. Recent breaches have been linked to PF Changes, cabs in Chicago, and assorted other retailers. The most recent one that I've seen reported is Goodwill Industries:
"It remains unclear how many Goodwill locations may have been impacted, but sources say they have traced a pattern of fraud on cards that were all previously used at Goodwill stores across at least 21 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
It is also not known at this time how long ago this apparent breach may have begun, but those same financial industry sources say the breach could extend back to the middle of 2013.
Financial industry sources said the affected cards all appear to have been used at Goodwill stores, but that the fraudulent charges on those cards occurred at non-Goodwill stores, such as big box retailers and supermarket chains. This is consistent with activity seen in the wake of other large data breaches involving compromised credit and debit cards, including the break-ins at Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels, Sally Beauty, and P.F. Chang’s."
Full text here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/07/banks-card-breach-at-goodwill-industries/#more-27010
"It remains unclear how many Goodwill locations may have been impacted, but sources say they have traced a pattern of fraud on cards that were all previously used at Goodwill stores across at least 21 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
It is also not known at this time how long ago this apparent breach may have begun, but those same financial industry sources say the breach could extend back to the middle of 2013.
Financial industry sources said the affected cards all appear to have been used at Goodwill stores, but that the fraudulent charges on those cards occurred at non-Goodwill stores, such as big box retailers and supermarket chains. This is consistent with activity seen in the wake of other large data breaches involving compromised credit and debit cards, including the break-ins at Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels, Sally Beauty, and P.F. Chang’s."
Full text here: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/07/banks-card-breach-at-goodwill-industries/#more-27010
Just a heads up also that Citi was posting a fraud alert for AFT loads as of yesterday. My husband and I were each trying to load our cards (mine the HH Reserve and his the Citi Exec) and we each could not do it without an involved call to Citi that involved a supervisor to unlock the fraud alert. So I recommend a call to Citi before attempting to load and letting them know that regular transactions of merchandise at this merchant are a possibility.
SJCRussell
Level 2 Member
Sadly even that doesn't help sometimes. I've called in specifically and still had it fail. Citi just doesn't expect large charges at Target.
I also had it happen last month. I waited for the text alert. I cleared it and it was still rejected. Next day I was called by the citi fraud group who aplogized that the text 'release' didn't work and credited me 2k AA as an apology.
I also had it happen last month. I waited for the text alert. I cleared it and it was still rejected. Next day I was called by the citi fraud group who aplogized that the text 'release' didn't work and credited me 2k AA as an apology.
SJCRussell
Level 2 Member
Something that I find helpful - most people don;t realize AFT can be setup as an account in Mint.com. Then you quickly see across all your cards any unusual spending. I also do this and then assign the $3 load fee and ATM fees to 'miles' and the cash component to 'transfer between accounts' This way I get to see the actual cost of this hobby and the MS part doesn't show up in any budgets or spend trends.
Anh
Level 2 Member
Bluebird also shows up in Mint. Serve did not show up and I did put in a request to Mint, but haven't checked back if they have added Serve or not. One of my financial institution did not show up and Mint added within 24 hours of my request. I was quite impressed
Thanks for this! I had tried at add AFT a couple of months ago and it didn't work but did request they add it. I never heard back from Mint. I'm going to go add now!
@SJCRussell What did you type or choose to add AFT to Mint? I've tried adding "American Express for Target" and also the URL of the login page and I'm not seeing any choices that make sense. Thanks!
ed1chandler
Level 2 Member
This has been going on with me for some time. You can set up your cards so that you get fraud alerts as a text message, and then just reply "YES" (or whatever it says) to confirm and then swipe again. I don't remember which of my cards is set up that way, and I use different cards for AFT from month to month, so I lose track, but I thought I'd throw that out there.
Still, I've been getting a call every time I load AFT w/ Citi. Here's how I handle it...
- I always hand the cashier my driver's license when I hand them my AFT. It's totally unnecessary, and they give it right back, but then when the swipe doesn't go through they're much more at ease about it.
- Then, if the swipe fails, I crack a joke, "My phone is going to ring here in a second ... hold on ... my bank is really trigger happy with the fraud alerts. I guess that's good for me, huh?" Then, sure enough, my phone rings.
- I handle the call and then finish the transaction. If there's a line behind me, I always step to the side to finish the call -- I don't want to be "that guy."
ed1chandler
Level 2 Member
Odd that none of these show up in Quicken then ...
I do have the fraud alert set to my text as well. The issue I had is that even after verifying via text and online that it was my charge and getting the text and email from Citi that the account was available for use at the merchant, I still could not use it. I even waited 24 hours and could not the first time. The second time I stayed at the cashier and called in and had to forward to a supervisor with Citi to get it done. The cashier was amazing. My husband and I were each having this issue and she actually opened a second register so each of us could test if it was corrected after our calls while the CS rep was on the line.
Annie H.
Egalatarian
If you were affected by the Target data breach--I guess I'd bought something online a couple years ago--you should have received a free one year subscription to Protect My ID.
https://www.protectmyid.com/
Yes I have that, but isn't it more for credit pulls/changes than transactions?
Annie H.
Egalatarian
LOL, really-- every one here, me included, is so focused on deals that sometimes that's all we think about. I'd never pay for the service but it is handy for monitoring pulls and changes. If I do figure out how to get points from it I'll let you know
Annie H.
Egalatarian
It was handy for me when did my first AOR (before I found out that wasn't the best method) or just monthly apps as I'm doing now to see for sure who/what got pulled and if it was Experian.
ed1chandler
Level 2 Member
Did this ever get answered? I'm still not finding AFT in Mint.
Just HHonors Amex Surpass for me so this is OT but not necessarily worthy of new thread. I was too busy/lazy to drive to my local mall yesterday to buy GC's, and tried to buy some from the mall owner's website . Previous in person purchases last month were fine on same card. Transaction denied by AMEX. 6 hrs later I got an email telling me to call them. All sorted out and they said I can complete my transaction but I already did using another card that worked just fine.
inflightmeal
Level 2 Member
Humor goes a LONG way in this game, I find. Nice one.