Hackers planted malware on payment processing systems on March 14, 2013

Dec 23, 2013 08:50 GMT  ·  By

Affinity Gaming, a casino operator based in Paradise, Nevada, has suffered a data breach in which the credit and debit cards used by customers have been compromised.

According to the company, those who used their payment cards at Affinity Gaming facilities between March 14 and October 16, 2013 are impacted.

The list of affected locations includes Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV; Rail City Casino in Sparks, NV; Primm Valley Resort & Casino in Primm, NV; Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino in Primm, NV; Whiskey Pete's Hotel & Casino in Primm, NV; and Lakeside Hotel-Casino in Osceola, IA.

St. Jo Frontier Casino in St. Joseph, MO; Mark Twain Casino in LaGrange, MO; Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, CO; Golden Gulch Casino in Black Hawk, CO and Mardi Gras Casino in Black Hawk, CO are also on the list.

Apparently, the compromised payment card information is already being misused by crooks. In fact, Affinity Gaming learned of the incident after being notified by law enforcement regarding fraudulent charges on October 24, 2013.

Law enforcement authorities and financial institutions have been notified. The investigation into the data breach is still ongoing. However, it’s certain that the attackers have used a piece of malware to obtain the sensitive information.

Affinity Gaming says it has taken steps to ensure that it’s systems have been “fully secured.”

For the time being, the company doesn’t appear to be offering any credit protection services. Instead, it advises impacted customers to request free credit reports from credit bureaus and place fraud alerts on their files.

Affinity is also investigating a second breach that targeted the Primm Center Gas Station in Primm, Nevada. Payment cards have been compromised in this hack attack as well.

In this case, it’s uncertain when the hackers breached the payment processing systems, but the attackers’ access was cut off on November 29, 2013.