As Target fallout continues, incidents of fraud emerge

For some Target (TGT) customers, the nightmare is just beginning.
With Target's security breach, thieves didn't stop at swiping payment card numbers belonging to 40 million customers. Criminals also stole data, such as addresses and emails, for up to 70 million Target shoppers. Unfortunately, the data breach may end up creating a bigger headache if criminals use it for identity theft, as one woman recently discovered.
Lauren Campbell, a dermatologist in Texas, told CBS station KHOU-TV that after her data was stolen in the Target hack, a thief or thieves applied for cards in her name, buying everything from toys to diamond rings.
While fraudulent credit-card charges are bad, identity theft such what Campbell experienced can potentially be much more damaging. Clearing up cases of false identity can be time-consuming and challenging, given that victims may need to file a police report, plus contact the Federal Trade Commission and the fraud units of the three credit reporting agencies.
Campbell told KHOU that she received an American Express card in her name, but that it was clearly fraudulent: the thief’s photo, that of a woman unknown to her, was shown on the reverse side.
“That someone is running around pretending to be me, using my name to commit crime, that really bothers me,” Campbell said. She added, “I like how she sprang for an executive card. That was a nice touch.”
With cases of identity theft such as this, many victims never find out about the bogus accounts until they’re contacted by bill collectors about outstanding balances they know nothing about, according to the FTC.
For identity theft victims who receive collection notices, they must dispute all or part of the debt within 30 days of receiving a notice, the FTC notes.
Authorities arrested two Mexican citizens this week, alleging they used cards that contained the account information of South Texas residents. The alleged criminals, 27-year-old Mary Carmen Garcia and 28-year-old Daniel Guardiola Dominguez, were found with 96 cloned or counterfeit cards under their clothes, which authorities said were made from data stolen during the Target breach. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/as-target-fallout-continues-incidents-of-fraud-emerge/