Since Heartland processes about 100 million payment transactions per month for 175,000 merchants, the chance that you've been affected is good, if you ever use your credit cards.
Heartland's president and CEO Robert Baldwin says the company plans to notify every card holder who was affected - once the final count has been determined. Since this could take some time, consumers are wise to take their own precautions. Experts are calling this breach the largest ever - even bigger than the 2005-2006 theft of 45 million card numbers from TJX.
According to the security firm, CardCops, the past year has seen a 20% increase in the number of hackers "testing" bunches of credit card numbers. These hackers send through a small charge - one you might notice and wonder about, but dismiss as unimportant because of the small amount. These charges are sent just to see if the account is active and some are refunded before showing up on your statement. Once the validity of the account is verified, they can sell the account numbers to those who will be the ultimate "users" of your credit.
What can you do? First, read every credit card statement and check for the validity of each and every charge. That means you should be diligent in keeping every charge slip and/or entering them into a bookkeeping program regularly, so that you don't have to rely on memory to tell you if you made a purchase on a specific day.
If you find a fraudulent charge, contact your credit card issuer to report it immediately. You won't be held responsible, but they won't know the charge is fraudulent and you won't get the charge reversed unless you report it.
Next, get a copy of your free credit report and read it carefully. Look for warning signs of identity theft, such as a new address or an account you don't recognize. While you're there, check for mistakes. According to FICO, one in four credit reports contains mistakes, and those mistakes could significantly lower your credit scores.
Then, sign up for a notification program - so that any time there's activity affecting your credit report, you'll know it.
As the economy worsens, thieves are finding more creative ways to access funds that don't belong to them. You can't prevent their activities, but you can stop them from destroying your credit scores and your financial reputation if you keep watch on your own credit report.
According to Experian, those Britons who are looking to remortgage their property in the months to come as their fixed-rate deals expire are set to find that such a process becomes increasingly hard. These predicted difficulties were attributed to moves by numerous loan lenders to tighten up their borrowing criteria and withdraw competitively-priced products from the market due to the impact of the credit crunch. With this taking place on an "almost daily basis", consumers are reported to be facing a "mortgage freeze". As such, it was stated to be more crucial than ever that homeowners take the time to make sure their credit history is in the best shape as possible.
In an attempt to present their financial history in the most favourable light, borrowers were urged to make sure that any previous arrears and debts have been paid off in full. Meanwhile, consumers who have developed problems with making repayments in the past were advised to state the reasons why such difficulties appear on their report.
For those consumers who discover that they encounter difficulty in securing a competitively-priced mortgage and so have to opt for a more expensive than previously anticipated product, it may be possible that they struggle to manage their money. Not only could such people face increased mortgage costs, but a rise in such a spending commitment could impact upon their capacity to meet other financial demands such as loans, credit and store cards, household bills and council tax.
Commenting on the report, James Jones, consumer education manager for Experian, said: "More than a million people will be coming to the end of fixed-rate mortgage deals this year and Experian is already seeing increasing numbers of people checking their own credit report before applying for credit. Quite understandably, consumers are taking much more interest in their credit status."
In addition, the financial services firm advised that consumers take the time to ensure that their current address is registered on the electoral roll. Should prospective borrowers fail to do this however, it was stated that they may find a "dent" is placed on their credit history. Meanwhile, Experian advised that credit cards and other borrowing accounts which are no longer being used should be shut down. The company pointed out that money lenders might take into account any credit which is already available to consumers even if they are not actually making use of it.
Those consumers who have previous debt difficulties but are looking to supplement their spending may find that a bad credit loan is advisable. Such a loan could prove to be of particular help to people who in the past have struggled with credit commitments but who are now confident about their ability to make repayments. In addition, this type of loan could be of assistance to those consumers who are concerned about their capacity to meet more costly mortgage repayments. Getting a bad credit loan might be of instance to those Britons wishing to avoid filing for bankruptcy. In recent figures by the Insolvency Service, it was revealed that 2,800 people in Wales became bankrupt in 2006 due to difficulties with managing money. Such a figure represents an increase of 47 per cent from the previous year.
Both Mike Clover & Tom Dawson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.