Holiday shoppers got an unwelcome surprise when it was revealed this week that an in-store scam resulted in the theft of up to 40 million credit and debit card numbers from Target customers.

The retailer urged consumers to keep a close eye on their statements and credit scores, but this is certainly not the first time that shoppers and Web users have had to double check their accounts for fraud or change an Internet password in 2013.

Criminals targeted servers to secure personal data, or spread malware via phishing schemes in order to take over Twitter and other social media feeds. Government agencies were not immune to breaches, while the U.S. and China had a war of words over whether they were spying on each other.

Mid-year, meanwhile, there was also an uproar over just how much access the National Security Agency has to our phone records, email, and other data when former contractor Edward Snowden leaked a treasure trove of documents to the press.

But for the average consumer, data breaches of well-known companies hit closest to home – like a July bust in New Jersey that accused five men of stealing more than 160 million credit card numbers in what prosecutors called the largest known data breach scheme in U.S. history.

Read on for more hacks and scams that made headlines this year. Also check out What To Expect After the Target Card Data Breach, as well as How Could a Data Breach Affect Me? And Data Breach Insurance: Will It Help Or Hurt Your Privacy?