Chick-fil-A has confirmed that it is investigating a potential data breach based on reports it received from financial institutions that fraudulent purchases have been tracked back to payment cards used at some of the Atlanta-based chain’s restaurants.
A representative of Chick-fil-A provided Advisen with a statement regarding the investigation, noting, “Following Chick-fil-A recently received reports of potential unusual activity involving payment cards used at a few of our restaurants. We take our obligation to protect customer information seriously, and we are working with leading IT security firms, law enforcement and our payment industry contacts to determine all of the facts.
” We want to assure our customers we are working hard to investigate these events and will share additional facts as we are able to do so.”
The restaurant chain added, “If the investigation reveals that a breach has occurred, customers will not be liable for any fraudulent charges to their accounts. Any fraudulent charges will be the responsibility of either Chick-fil-A or the bank that issued the card. If our customers are impacted, we will arrange for free identity protection services, including credit monitoring.”
Chick-fil-A is a privately-held company that reached $5 billion in sales in 2013. There are over 1,600 locations in the United States, most of which are owned and operated as franchises.
Erin is the managing editor of Advisen’s Front Page News. She has been covering property-casualty insurance since 2000. Previously, Erin served as editor-in-chief of The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly. Erin is based in Boston, Mass. Contact Erin at [email protected].
