Chula Vista resident files class action lawsuit against Target for network breach

One San Diego resident has taken aim against big-box retailer Target and the retailer's recent admission that their credit card database had been compromised, revealing the credit card and pin numbers for nearly 40 million of its customers.

Chula Vista resident Tara Del Gaizo filed a class action lawsuit against the Minneapolis-based retail chain in federal court on January 2, most likely one of many to be filed in the coming weeks.

According to the complaint, "cyber criminals" targeted the retailer's computer network between November 27, 2013 and December 15. Target executives disclosed the breach in a December 19 press release. It was not until more than one week later when the company announced that personal identification numbers were also taken in the online heist.

"The data breach placed customers’ sensitive personal and financial information in the hands of cyber criminals, including customers’ names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, and CVVs," reads the lawsuit filed by San Diego law firm Blood Hurst and O'Reardon.

"Target knew or should have known that its inadequate security systems placed Target at an increased risk for a data breach, which directly and proximately caused the theft of Plaintiff’s and the other Class members personal information. As a result of Target’s failure to reasonably and adequately secure its network, the data breach occurred and Plaintiff’s and the other Class members’ [information] was compromised, placing them at an increased risk of fraud and identity theft, and causing direct financial expenses associated with credit monitoring, replacement of compromised credit, debit, and bank cards, and other measures needed to protect against fraudulent criminal activity."

Del Gaizo's attorneys say the crooks will now be able to create counterfeit credit cards and might also be able to reproduce ATM cards allowing them to draw cash directly from the bank. Damages in the case are expected to exceed $5 million dollars.

For Del Gaizo, she visited the Target store located in Eastlake three times during the period when the breach occurred, using her Target REDcard each and every time.

"Had Plaintiff known that Target would not maintain her information in a reasonably secure manner, she would not have signed up for and made a purchase at Target using her Target REDcard."

Del Gaizo, however, isn't the first customer to file a class action lawsuit against the Fortune 500 retailer. A customer in East St. Louis filed a lawsuit against Target on December 19 of last year, according to a January 3 report in the Madison-St. Claire Record.