West Shore Bank offers advice for Target customers

LUDINGTON — Target stores confirmed Thursday morning that over 40 million of its customers may have had their financial information compromised between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. The breach occurred through credit card transaction machines at all Target stores. The closest Target store to Mason County is located in Norton Shores.

If you shopped at any Target store during the breach period, you are being urged to take precautions.

West Shore Bank issued a press release today with some recommendations. Spokeswoman Donna Yeager said bank customers should check their accounts on a daily basis and report any unusual or unauthorized activity to your financial institution. West Shore Bank is taking the following action in response to this security breach for its customers:

1. Identifying those customers who may be affected. MasterCard has been issuing lists of known compromised cards and West Shore Bank has started the process to contact these impacted customers.
2. Closely monitoring customer accounts for suspicious activity.
3. De-activating and re-issuing cards if suspicious activity is discovered.

“We know that security, protection from fraud and personal privacy mean as much to customers as they do to us,” said Ray Biggs, President of West Shore Bank. “While the Target data breach was out of our control, we are working diligently to identify those affected West Shore Bank customers. We will be closely monitoring customer accounts for suspicious activity and taking appropriate actions if necessary.” Customers are encouraged to monitor their accounts daily and immediately report any suspicious activity.

If you believe that your debit or credit card has been compromised, it is important that you contact the card issuing financial institution. West Shore Bank customers can notify the bank by either calling 231-845-3500 or 888-295-4373 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. – noon or visiting one of the bank’s local branches. West Shore Bank also has information on its website for preventing, detecting and resolving fraud at www.westshorebank.com/fraud-alerts.