Restaurant chain Chick-fil-A said Wednesday that it may have been the victim of an online data breach.
The Atlanta-based company, which operates more than 1,850 restaurants nationwide, said customers would not be held liable for any fraudulent charges placed on their card accounts.
“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, (federal) law enforcement and our payment industry contacts to determine all of the facts,” the company said in a statement posted on its website.
The company added that if the probe determines there was a breach, any bogus charges to customers’ accounts will be the responsibility of either the restaurant chain or that of the bank that issued the customer’s card.
“If our customers are impacted, we will arrange for free identity protection services, including credit monitoring,” Chick-fil-A said.
People concerned they may been victims are urged contact the company at 855-398-6439. However, the chain’s call center is currently closed for the New Year’s holiday and will not reopen until Friday.
The potential fraud was first noticed on Dec. 19 after suspicious card activity was noticed at certain restaurants. Chick-fil-A did not elaborate on what the suspicious activity was, how it stood out from normal credit/debit card use or the locations of the stores were the suspected fraud occurred.
If there was a breach, Chick-fil-A would join a growing list of major American companies that have been the victims of high-profile hacks in the last year, including Target, Home Depot and Sony.
