How Many Credit Card Details Were Stolen From TK Maxx?

Somewhere in the region of 46 MILLION people's cards.  45.7 million is the most precise number given out, so far.  In the UK, USA and elsewhere.

Few reasons not to panic, though.

The thieves were at it over an 18 MONTH period, starting 31 December 2002 until the end of November 2003 (in the UK), and until the end of June 2004 in their North American stores.  And yet, Tk Maxx only just got found out.  Which suggests that if the thieves were going to steal using any particular person's card, they probably have already done it by now.  It also seems they have been using a lot fewer cards than you might have expected, because they are clever enough to not want to be detected.

If you think you might be a victim, you need to carefully look back through statements back to at least December 2002.  Also, if you only bought stuff from Tk Maxx (in their shops or online) outside of that period -- before December 2002, or after November 2003 (UK) or June 2004 (North America), then your card details probably aren't at risk (in this particular mass heist).

Tk Maxx reckons that PINs weren't stolen -- hence the card details can really only be used for online purchases.  And that only cards used for initial purchases in the shops themselves were at risk.  So for instance, cards credited when items were returned won't have had details stolen from them.