What to do if Your Credit Card Account Might Have Been Hacked?

News stories about major companies having consumer information hacked seem to be getting more common around the world. From social media services to a major news agency’s website to credit card companies, hackers have been making their rounds. And the scariest part of that for consumers is that they can be hacked at no fault of their own.

Let’s look at some recent examples of credit card hacks to emphasise the risks, and some of the things you can do if you’re worried that your account information might have been compromised.

Recent Large-Scale Credit Card Hacks

Here are two big examples of recent hacking attempts where credit card information was compromised in some way:

• An Australian company was hacked this month, compromising an estimated 500,000 credit card accounts. In this case, it’s believed that the hackers were able to remotely access credit card information from the retailer because the company used default passwords and stored the data in an unsecured manner. It’s believed that this same group of hackers previously targeted Subway restaurants in the U.S. where information from 80,000 cards was stolen using keystroke loggers.
• Back in March a major payment processor — Global Payments — was hacked. In a news release from the company in June, they acknowledged that up to 1,500,000 credit card numbers may have been exported from their system. In that case, it was their North American processing system that was attacked.

Concerned About Your Account? Here’s What to Do

These kinds of hacking attempts are largely out of your control as a consumer. Even if you do everything right to protect yourself, you still have to count on credit card companies, retailers, and processors to equally protect your information. But what happens if there’s an incident and you’re concerned that your account might have been compromised? Here are a few things you should do:

• Call your bank or credit card company immediately. They might know whether or not your account is in the group that was affected. If so, they can cancel that card and issue a new one with new credit card information.
• Change your passwords on all financial accounts that might be affected so you don’t lose access to that data. Make sure every site has its own password. If you use the same one in multiple places and it’s hacked just once, the rest of your accounts are equally insecure.
• Keep an eye on the information in your credit card statements and credit file. If you see an unusual transaction in your statement, report it immediately. If you see new accounts show up in your credit file, report and cancel them right away as well.

Have you been a victim of one of these major hacking attempts? What did you do about it, or how did your issuing bank handle the situation? Share your stories and tips on keeping your credit card information safe in the comments.

About the author

Roland Bleyer

Roland has years of experience in the financial industry and is the founder of the Credit World group. He has overseen Credit World grow to become the number one reseller of retail banking products. He is a regular contributor to this blog and and aims to help people make the most of their money and help the consumer find the best possible product. Roland dedicates his time writing finance articles to provide people with information they need. You can find him on Google+ & twitter