A Michaels data breach exposed 3 million credit cards. Robert Siciliano from McAfee and BillGuard CEO Yaron Samid discuss why magnetic-strip cards are vulnerable and recommend monitoring your statements for suspicious charges.
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Well, yesterday we told you about a huge data breach at Michaels, the popular arts and crafts store. It is just the latest in a long line of businesses that have seen people get into their systems to steal your personal information. But despite breach after breach, we're all right back into these stores using our cards once again. So how much do people really care about these massive breaches? Stacy Delacat's live outside Michaels on the Upper West Side with a closer look at that. Stacy.
Steve, the bottom line is we're never completely safe from credit card hacking, particularly with the current credit card technology most of us use. So experts say the answer is to be vigilant, pay attention to those statements. The problem is most of us are still not doing that. Another week, another credit card hacking at a major retailer. This time, Michaels craft store, and consumers are uneasy. Very nervous. I mean, these days nothing I feel like is safe and everyone's just using their credit cards.
The fact is you cannot protect your credit cards. Uh, you can't. Every time you give it out, it is vulnerable to fraud.
Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert with McAfee and says the magnetic strip technology on our cards says is easy to duplicate and antiquated. But more secure chip-and-PIN cards, as they're called, are still years away from being the norm in the U.S. He says the only solution is paying attention.
People are checking their Facebook pages every day. Why not check your bank account or credit card statements daily as well?
How often do you check your statements? When they come in, once a month. 9 out of 10 consumers surveyed by BillGuard are like this woman. Most of us only glance at our monthly statements and rarely go line by line. Others rely on banks to watch out for fraud, says BillGuard CEO Yaron Samid.
Most people sort of assume banks would take care of them and find fraud. The reality is, and it's a shocking stat, that banks catch about one-third of card fraud every year.
Samid created the BillGuard app, which consolidates debit and credit accounts and helps spot suspicious charges that have been flagged by other members. The app has seen a major spike in downloads since the massive Target data breach earlier this year.
You need to check Tools like BillGuard can help you check your cards more effectively in one app rather than having to go to multiple sites.
Well, a great tip from that CEO of BillGuard. When you're looking at your statements, look out for those small charges that seem suspicious, the ones maybe for just $2 or $3, or say $8.57. If you don't recognize where those charges are from, oftentimes those are the hackers testing to see whether the charge will be authenticated before they sell your information to the highest bidder. So something good to think about.
