Nearly 1.1 million payment cards were compromised in almost four months violation that occurred at Neiman Marcus stores from July 16 to October 30, as indicated by the company in a news release. The luxury retailer has not announced specific locations or the number of stores affected by the breach, but the release reported that the store was notified by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, about 2,400 customers of payment cards used in Neiman Marcus stores and outlet stores last call were fraudulent.
How was my payment information revealed?
informationpayment was revealed through malicious software that has been installed in the systems department store. This malware has collected data of payment to all customers who used debit or credit card at the time of purchase. He has since been disabled, and the company is working with the US Secret Service, the merchant processor and an office of intelligence and risk management, among others in an ongoing investigation. The department store said it is not aware that this violation is related to the breach of the target, which exposed almost 110 million customers.
was my PIN revealed in the breach?
Unlike the breach of the target which was held from November to December of last year, the Neiman Marcus violation revealed no PINs encrypted PIN pads because customers are not used by the big store. The company said the payment information has been violated, and has not announced whether it includes expiration dates or card CVV codes.
How can I protect myself against the violation?
When a large breach like this happens, it is essential that you take certain steps and precautions to protect yourself from falling victim to identity theft.
1. Sign up for identity theft protection: Similar to Target, Neiman Marcus offers each customer a free one-year subscription to ProtectMyID. Unfortunately, this service is not the best option for affected customers because it does not respond in terms of credit report monitoring and identity theft protection. Unlike most other identity theft protection services, ProtectMyID does not monitor all three credit reports - TransUnion, Equifax and Experian - and instead monitors your Experian credit report. One-office monitoring credit report leaves you exposed because different types of credit, such as a loan or credit card, are not always reported to all three bureaus. This means that an identity thief can sign up for a credit card in your name and you may not know about it until it's too late.
In addition to lack in terms of monitoring the credit report, not ProtectMyID offers identity theft basic functions - such as Internet monitoring the black market, address change of control and public folders surveillance - as most other services offer. In the event that an identity thief uses, trade or sell your personal information, you will not be notified or warned.
If you want a service that not only protect you if your identity is stolen, but also includes active surveillance and alert, then you may want to consider signing up for Identity Guard. This service provides complete protection against identity theft, including features that ProtectMyID missing, three office monitoring credit report, as well as full access to the identity theft recovery unit to help you if you fall victim to this crime. And the best part is that Identity Guard offers a free 30-day trial that allows you to test the service before making a financial commitment. Read our review Identity Guard for more on the top-rated service and visit our protection against identity theft compare chart to see how the service compares ProtectMyID.
2. Comb through bank statements: Another step you should take to protect your identity is to look through all of your bank statements dating back to July 2012 and make you know that you were the one who filled all transactions. If you see an unknown load, call your bank immediately and report the transaction as a potential fraud. Your bank will be able to help you through the process of reporting fraud.
3. Learn about a new debit or credit card: This is a step that you can take to ensure the security of your card information, because once you get a new credit or debit card, your previous card information will not be valid. It is important to note that some banks will not issue you a new debit or credit card unless the account confirmed fraudulent activity, but there is no harm to investigate your bank reissue policy .
4. Shred documents containing personal information: The last step to protect your identity is to assure you that you have any documents or mail that contains personal information - anything from old bank statements to credit card offers. Shredding these documents will help prevent more of your information be disclosed to identity thieves. If you need to buy a shredder, make sure you take a cross mill so that it completely destroyed the document when you shred opposed to cutting the paper into strips of paper.