All Hawaii residents who shop at Target stores are urged to take advantage of one year of free credit monitoring being offered by the retailer in the wake of a data breach in December, according to the Department of Commerce
All Hawaii residents who shop at Target stores are urged to take advantage of one year of free credit monitoring being offered by the retailer in the wake of a data breach in December, according to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Office of Consumer Protection.
“The Office of Consumer Protection strongly recommends that all Target customers, regardless of whether they’ve identified suspicious activity in their personal accounts, take advantage of this offer,” Office of Consumer Protection Executive Director Bruce Kim said. “Additionally, consumers who have not done so already should take the proactive steps of changing their PIN numbers and passwords. The Office of Consumer Protection is continuing to monitor the situation to ensure consumers receive all the protections they deserve in the wake of this serious nationwide data breach.”
Last month, Target reported a data breach wherein payment card information of 40 million customers had been obtained by hackers in November and December. The stolen information included credit and debit card data, customer names and personal identification numbers. Last week, Target revealed that hackers also stole a second batch of data that included names, mailing addresses, phone numbers or email addresses for as many as 70 million people.
The state Office of Consumer Protection has been monitoring the situation that has affected at least 121,000 Hawaii shoppers. The office has agreed to a joint investigation into the breach with other states.
Target is offering one year of free credit monitoring to all its customers. Consumers can register for free credit monitoring at creditmonitoring.target.com.
The free credit monitoring will be offered through Experian’s ProtectMyID, and the service provides a copy of a credit report, daily credit monitoring, identity theft insurance (except where prohibited by law) and access to personalized assistance from a fraud resolution agent, according to the state.
Target has provided the following information for consumers looking to take advantage of this program:
Consumers who shopped in U.S. stores may request an activation code by entering their name and email address at creditmonitoring.target.com before April 23.
Consumers will then receive an email from Target within five days that will include the unique activation code and instructions on how to register the code with ProtectMyID.
Consumers will have until April 30 to register their code with ProtectMyID. Emails collected during the process of creating activation codes will only be used for the purpose of sending an activation code to enroll in free credit monitoring.
Consumers should be alert for suspicious unsolicited emails or text messages bearing Target logos or using the word “Target” in the website address.
There may be “phishing” scams purporting to be from Target seeking personal information from unsuspecting consumers. If you’ve received such an email, and have any doubt as to its authenticity, do not open it and delete it.
For more information, visit target.com/databreach or contact Target directly at 866-852-8680.
