It can happen anywhere…

OK, to make ends meet while trying to get my business going, I’ve been working in retail.  And I work at a national chain store that suffered a data hacking attack over the past Christmas holiday season.  Needless to say, on a daily basis, I have been getting questions from customers about the safety of using their credit or debit cards in the store.  Which, at this point I’ve come to ignore the questions and negative reactions from customers because at this point it’s just stupid.  That was until yesterday when a relative of mine happened to shop in the same store I work at.

What got me going was an ignorant comment which my relative made later that day in regards to how safe it was to use her debit card at the store.  I had asked if she had payed for her merchandise with cash – because I would have been able to give her my employee discount if she did.  My relative responded with the typical “I’ll never use my debit card there because of the fiasco, blah, blah, blah.”  “It’s not safe, blah, blah, blah.”  At that point I just walked away because I didn’t want to hear all that crawl up my spine static – I was just trying to say I could have helped you out with your purchase.

What my ignorant relative needs to realize (as well as everyone else in this country) is that nothing is truly safe when it comes to data.  This is particularly with any type of financial data like bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards, etc.  As it stands right now, every institution that deals with financial transactions (banks, retail stores, you name it, etc or whatever) has been or will be hacked data wise.  In short, there is no place that is truly secure when it comes to making a financial transaction.  Heck, even good ole cash that you get out of a bank ATM can be counterfeit.  So again, nothing is safe these days.

There are security changes coming to credit and debit cards which I’m not going to get into right at this point – but for now the best you can do is closely monitor your accounts and credit history.  You might also consider investing in a credit monitoring service to provide additional warning if your accounts have been compromised. When it does happen to you – as it did to me earlier this year – don’t delay in taking steps to get things corrected.

Anyway, to that ignorant relative – you will never, ever get an employee discount from me again. I was just trying to cut you some slack because I know it’s tight for you – but from this time forward, you can just fuhgeddaboudit…

Do you feel safe when you use your credit or debit card when out and about?  Leave a comment.

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