According to a recent report by CIO.com, hackers stole names, credit card numbers and expiration dates from computer systems at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts that were recently compromised. It is unclear how many guests were affected by the breach, which occurred between October 2009 and January 2010.
In a letter on its website, the hotel chain said it expected limited or zero credit card fraud resulting from the breach because it did not have visitors’ birthdates, Social Security numbers or addresses.
“Nevertheless, we recommend that you regularly monitor your card and bank statements and that you promptly report all suspicious activity to the financial institution that issued your card,” Kirsten Hotchkiss, senior vice president of enterprise compliance and employment counsel, wrote in the letter.
Consumers may request one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus during a 12-month period. It is recommended that they separate the requests out by four months, in order to get an accurate idea of its activity throughout the year.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts was also compromised during the summer of 2008 and February 2009, when tens of thousands of credit card numbers were stolen, according to the report.
Data released recently by security provider Trustwave showed that the hotel industry was targeted for identity theft more than any other network. Nicholas Percoco, senior vice president of Trustwave’s Spiderlabs team, investigates such activity.
“This is a new trend,” Percoco said in an interview with USA Today. “Prior to late 2008, we did not really see any investigations around hotels – maybe a handful. But it was not something significant enough to call it a trend.”
Credit and debit card information was sought in 98 percent of such cases, according to the report.
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