 The nightmare before Christmas continues for Target. Stolen Target customer information from a security breach involving its in-store point-of-sale systems has already begun flooding the black market, according to numerous people in the fraud industry tracking the situation. On Dec. 11, one week after hackers breached Target’s systems, Easy Solutions, a company that tracks fraud, noticed a ten- to twentyfold increase in the number of high-value stolen cards on black market web sites, from nearly every bank and credit union. The black market for credit card and debit card numbers is highly sophisticated, with numerous card-selling sites that are indistinguishable from a modern-day e-commerce site. Many sell cards in bulk to account for the possibility of cancellations. Some go for as little as a quarter. Corporate cards can sell for as much as $45. But the security blogger Brian Krebs, who first broke news of the Target security breach on his website, said some Target customers’ high-value... |
