Attention Target Shoppers; Don’t be a victim twice!

It has been months since Target information was hacked, putting credit card information in the hands of criminals. Because of this breach and others like it at different businesses all over the country, scammers are still after your information via email and phone calls.

As you have probably heard, there was a card data breach at Target stores in the US in late 2013. Financial institutions like Financial Center have been contacting their affected cardholders alerting them to the breach. Unfortunately, scammers have been contacting consumers, too, posing as Target and other institutions. At times, it can be difficult to tell a legitimate email from a fake one. Here are some tips for you to follow, to help ensure you don’t fall victim to one of these scam emails:

• If you get an email that is supposedly from Target, don’t click on links within the email. Instead, you can go directly to the trusted website that the email is directing you to visit (such as the FTC and the national credit bureaus’ websites).

• This is a good practice to apply to all emails that you receive. Never provide your account or personal identifying information in an email. This is also a good tip to follow with phone calls (unless you initiated the phone call to a legitimate phone number).

• Vary your password amongst your accounts; this way, if a scammer does gain access to one account, your other logins remain safe.

• Monitor your accounts throughout the month and report any unknown transactions.

• And don’t forget to monitor your credit report, too. Consumers have access to free credit reports from each of the three national credit bureaus on an annual basis through AnnualCreditReport.com.

Thanks to Financial Center Credit Union in Stockton, California for the alert.