Since then, White Lodging, which operates Hilton, Sheraton and Holiday Inn hotels, has said that its credit card data has also been breached.

Additional undisclosed breaches at other retailers have probably also occurred, according Avivah Litan, a retail industry analyst for Gartner who discussed the matter with NPR. He maintains that there is an 80% likelihood that we will see another breach similar to that occurring at Target.

Other analysts have noted that such scams are orchestrated by sophisticated operations that are run out of numerous Russian-speaking countries in Europe. The operations have considerable resources, making it likely that they will strike again.

Such breaches, understandably, can cause considerable angst for financial advisors’ clients, as credit card users may initially fear that unauthorized uses of their credit cards may adversely impact their credit ratings while saddling them with excessive debt that was run up by fraudsters. With that in mind, advisors should be prepared to help clients understand how to respond when a data breach has occurred.

For advisors, furthermore, educating clients on credit card fraud can be a powerful value-added service that can help strengthen relationships. It’s important to keep the basics in mind when addressing clients’ questions about credit card fraud.

Federal law states that card holders are responsible for a maximum of $50 when a credit card is used without authorization, but if fraud occurs when account numbers are illegally obtained electronically, card holders have no liability. Card holders should therefore be reminded to frequently check their card statements for any unauthorized uses.

Clients should also look for micro charges, as some scams involve charges as small as 10 cents. The idea is that a large number of small charges on thousands of cards can accumulate a substantial sum, while the small size of the charges may result in them going unnoticed.

When unauthorized charges are discovered, advisors should have their clients contact their credit card company’s fraud prevention department to have the charges removed from their accounts and, if the charges are sizeable, from their credit histories.

Clients should also ask to have their account numbers changed and request new cards. Advisors should also encourage clients to check their credit reports on a regular basis.

Credit reporting bureaus are required to provide one free report each year. By staggering when each report is checked from the four largest credit bureaus, clients can view a report each quarter. They can access reports for free at www.annualcreditreport.com.

Another strategy for helping to minimize the risk of credit card fraud is to simply limit the number of credit cards that clients use, so advisors should ask their clients to carefully assess if the benefits of having store issued credit cards warrants keeping the cards.

Advisors should also point out that having too many credit cards can adversely influence an individual’s credit rating. Limiting the number of cards that a client has also limits the number of statements that must be reviewed each month. In the war against credit card fraud, clients should also be reminded that they should keep their anti-virus software on their home computers up to data, as scammers can target individual’s computers.