Target officials on Friday said they are reaching out to customers in response to its recent security breach announcement.
"We have begun notifying, via email, those guests whose emails we have and who shopped in our U.S. stores with a credit or debit card during the period of November 27 and December 15. We expect that all emails will be sent by the end of the weekend," said Molly Snyder, public relations for Target.
Snyder said it is important for customers to know that getting a letter or email from their financial institution does not necessarily mean there has been, or will be, fraud on their credit or debit card.
The security breach is under investigation by the Secret Service. About 40 million cardholders could be impacted, according to information released Thursday.
Snyder said there is no indication that there has been any impact to PINs.
"What this means is their bank PIN debit card or Target debit card still has this additional layer of protection. It also means that someone cannot visit an ATM with a fraudulent card and withdraw cash," she said.
There is also "no indication that the data that was inappropriately accessed included a guest's date of birth or Social Security number," Snyder said.
ALSO: Advice on avoiding bank fraud http://bit.ly/IZ2L0t
Target alerted all of the credit networks and provided affected card numbers. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are alerting the financial institutions of customers via "batch" of "CAMS alert."
"This alert process allows card providers to take steps to enact additional fraud monitoring. For our REDcard holders, in addition to the robust fraud monitoring system we already had in place, we have added additional layers of security and fraud monitoring to their cards," Snyder said.
Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel issued this message regarding the data breach:
"Yesterday we shared that there was unauthorized access to payment card data at our U.S. stores. The issue has been identified and eliminated. We recognize this has been confusing and disruptive during an already busy holiday season. Our guests' trust is our top priority at Target and we are committed to making this right.
We want our guests to understand that just because they shopped at Target during the impacted time frame, it doesn't mean they are victims of fraud. In fact, in other similar situations, there are typically low levels of actual fraud. Most importantly, we want to reassure guests that they will not be held financially responsible for any credit and debit card fraud. And to provide guests with extra assurance, we will be offering free credit monitoring services. We will be in touch with those impacted by this issue soon on how and where to access the service.
We understand it's been difficult for some guests to reach us via our website and call center. We apologize and want you to understand that we are experiencing unprecedented call volume. Our Target teams are working continuously to build capacity and meet our guests' needs.
We take this crime seriously. It was a crime against Target, our team members, and most importantly, our guests. We're in this together, and in that spirit, we are extending a 10% discount – the same amount our team members receive – to guests who shop in U.S. stores on Dec. 21 and 22. Again, we recognize this issue has been confusing and disruptive during an already busy holiday season. We want to emphasize that the issue has been addressed and let guests know they can shop with confidence at their local Target stores."
TIMELINE: Major security breaches
Timeline: Retail Credit Card Security Breaches on Dipity.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.