Authorities say millions of people have been impacted by a Target credit card hack.
A federal investigation reveals if customers swiped their debit or credit card at Target, their cash could be in trouble this holiday season. The hack is part of a nationwide breach of financial information from Target customers, in which data from 40 million shoppers was stolen.
Stephanie Roach, one of the victims, said she is lucky.
"I was really, truly scared that it was some type of scam," Roach said.
Roach, from Benton County, said around this time of the year, she's normally full of holiday cheer. But just recently that cheer got declined.
She took a call from her bank saying she spent $200 in Texas, although she was in Arkansas at the time.
"It was almost immediate," she said.
Reports show from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15, the hackers could have used the magnetic strip on the back of her card to obtain her information---for example, her name, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates and even the three-digit security codes on the backs of her card.
"It popped up on (the) screen. That flagged my account," Roach said. "I used my debit card in Arkansas that day. They knew I couldn't be in Texas at the same time."
The breach only involved store transactions, not online purchases. Customers who did not cancel their card like Roach could be susceptible to having their credit card information leaked.
Roach said the $200 has been refunded. She cut up her card and has a new one on the way, just in time for Christmas.
Target officials did not say exactly how the data breach occurred, but said they have fixed the problem.