Atlanta, GA – Don’t have a cow, but there could be trouble in store for patrons of the popular fast food restaurant Chick Fil A.
On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Atlanta-based franchise revealed in a press release that it “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 [information technology] security firms, law enforcement and our payment industry contacts to determine all of the facts.”
There are several Chick Fil A restaurants in Maryland, including four in Southern Maryland—California, La Plata, Waldorf and the St. Charles Town Center.
In a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) posted on the company’s web site, Chick Fil A officials stated they first found out about the potential breach when “we were notified by our payment industry contacts of limited suspicious payment card activity appearing to originate from payment cards used at a few of our restaurants.”
Company officials stated the initial report of “potential suspicious activity involving payment cards at a few restaurants” was received “late on Friday, Dec. 19.” The company then launched its investigation which is ongoing.
Corporate officials said Chick Fil A is cooperating with federal authorities on the investigation.
Chick Fil A officials have vowed that if the investigation reveals a breach, “customers will not be responsible 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. We will arrange for free identity protection services, including credit monitoring, to any impacted customer.”
Patrons of the chicken sandwich chain are encouraged to regularly monitor card accounts and to quickly report suspicious activity to their card issuers.
For more information, visit Chick Fil A’s web site at www.chick-fil-a.com
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com