Many IHG Properties Hit by Credit Card Data Breach

IHG issued a press release at the end of last week alerting guests of a credit card data breach from credit card readers at the front desks of 'certain IHG-branded franchise locations' from September 29 through December 29, 2016. The chain hired a cyber security firm to investigate after it noticed a pattern of unauthorized charges on certain credit cards after they'd been used at various properties. The investigation began in February and ended last month.

After the investigation, it was made known that malware had been installed to harvest information like names, card numbers, expiration dates and security codes when a card was swiped at an affected property. There's no evidence to suggest that sensitive information was collected by the malware after December 29, 2016. IHG says that it has alerted law enforcement and is working with card issuers as well as the cyber security firm it hired to shore up its security systems and to make sure that the malware is eliminated.

IHG has a webpage where you can see the affected properties — most seem to be Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express hotels in the US and Puerto Rico including the Holiday Inn Express New York City Times Square, Holiday Inn Express Los Angeles Downtown West and the Holiday Inn Chicago O'Hare.

Remember that you aren’t responsible for unauthorized charges on your card. You should consider requesting a replacement card if you visited any of these properties during the time that the breach was active.

Were you affected by this recent IHG credit card data breach?