September 09, 2010
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News: Travelers At Risk For Credit Card Fraud
Travelers have become the latest target of cybercriminals and credit card thieves. The New Hampshire Attorney General's office recently announced a security breach attack against the computer system of HEI Hospitality (HEI). The Hospitality company sent a notice to the Attorney General's office telling them that the computer systems of some of its properties were hacked into which could have compromised its customers' credit card data. According to the letter, the breach occurred between March 25th and April 17th of 2010. It is believed that the thieves were able to access customers' credit card numbers, expiration date, and security codes.
The company sent out over 3,400 letters to customers telling them that their credit card information was compromised. At this time, it is not believed that any of the stolen cards have been used in any illegal transactions. However, HEI is providing one free year of credit monitoring. As computer hacking incidents continue to increase, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI) has become more and more concerned about the credit card payment industry's PCI security standards. As a result, the council has released new security rules that require all card processers to implement new security requirements.
The HEI Hospitality is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company owns a number of different hotels and resorts including Westin Hotels and Resorts, Marriott Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Embassy Suites, Le Meridien Tahiti Hotels, Sheraton Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, and Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts. The report indicated that the locations of the credit card transactions affected were Marriott Fullerton at California State University, Detroit Marriott Southfield, Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Port Everglades Hotel, Marriott Dallas/Fort Worth Hotel & Gold Club at Champions Circle, Atlanta Marriott at Norcross, Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, The Westin Minneapolis, The Equinox, a Luxury Collection Golf Resort & Spa, Sheraton Music City Hotel, and the Westin St. Louis Hotel.