Are You a Victim in the Massive Target Credit & Debit Card Breach?

By Lauren Traut 

The credit and debit card information of millions of customers could be at risk after potential data theft at Target stores across the country, various media outlets are reporting.

The Secret Service is currently investigating the "massive data breach," as reported by USA TODAY.

• We're hearing reports of Bay Area Target customers being among the victims. We'd like to know if any Berkeley Patch readers have been affected. You can tell us in the comments.

The breach began on Black Friday, and spanned until Dec. 15, according to USA TODAY. It's possible someone could have stolen information stored on the magnetic stripe on the backs of cards. If a pin number was acquired, the person can then use an ATM to withdraw cash from a customer's bank account. The thieves could also use the information to create counterfeit credit cards.

Target said on its website officials at the company are "partnering with a leading third-party forensics firm to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident and to examine additional measures we can take that would be designed to help prevent incidents of this kind in the future."

Target is based in Minneapolis, with almost 1,800 stores in the United States and 124 in Canada, according to its website. The data theft does not appear to involve online purchases.

More information on preventing and recovering from identity theft is available on the FTC's website at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft.