14 DAY TRIAL // Penn Station, Inc. has released a statement informing customers that they’ve identified credit card security issues in a few of their restaurants. More precisely, the attackers seem to have obtained names and credit/debit card information.
According to the company, they’ve discovered that less than 20 percent of the more than 235 establishments (a total of 43) have been affected by the unauthorized access that occurred sometime at the beginning of March.
“We want to make our customers aware of this issue and advise them to watch for any unauthorized use of their credit or debit cards,” revealed Penn Station President Craig Dunaway.
As a result of the breach, the franchisees have not only alerted authorities, but they’ve also changed the card transaction processing methods.
The company has made public the list of affected locations and advises customers to constantly monitor their credit reports. Potential victims can even enable fraud alerts or security freezes to make sure their financial assets are secure.
Our own recommendation is that you check out the list and if you know that you used a payment card at one of the affected restaurants between the beginning of March and the end of April, rush to implement all the necessary measures.
On the other hand, as TechHerald’s Steve Ragan highlights (he is one of the potential victims), it’s somewhat concerning that Penn Station has notified customers only in June, more than a month after the breach.
It’s well known that in such cases a month is more than enough for a fraudster to empty bank accounts and cause some serious damage. Also, they failed to make an estimate of the number of affected individuals.
It may be true that less than 20% of restaurants have been affected, but 43 is not a number that should be neglected. Such popular establishments could very well have thousands of customers who pay with their credit cards in a two-month timeframe.