InterContinental at risk of fraud?

Close up picture of credit card putted on dollars ; shot with very shallow depth of field

Intercontinental is investigating possible payment card breaches after receiving reports of unauthorised charges on some guests cards.

On December 28, 2016, InterContinental Hotels Group (IGH) announced it would conduct investigations after receiving a report of unauthorised charges that had occurred on some payment cards in a number of its U.S. hotel properties, Travel Agent Central has reported.

Upon receiving information of the first compromised card, IHG hired leading cyber security firms to examine the payment card processing systems for the hotels it manages within the Americas region.

As a result of the investigation, IHG is now providing notification to guests who used card payments at select restaurants and bars at 12 of the company’s managed properties during the time period of August 2016 to December 2016.

The findings of the data security breach has occurred in the following U.S. chains: Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley, Holiday Inn San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf, InterContinental Los Angeles Century City, InterContinental Mark Hopkins, InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, InterContinental The Willard, Holiday Inn Resort – Aruba, InterContinental Toronto Yorkville, InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, and Holiday Inn Nashville Airport.

Further findings show that malware was installed on the servers that processed payment cards used at restaurants and bars of the 12 affected IHG managed properties. However, cards used at the front desks of these properties were not affected.

Since the launch of the investigation, IHG has announced that it’s been working with the security firms to review its security measures, as well as confirm that the issue has been remediated and evaluate ways to enhance IHG’s security measures, reports Travel Agent Central.

The group has notified law enforcement and is working with the payment card networks so that the banks that issue payment cards can be made aware and initiate higher monitoring on the affected cards.

IHG has also established a dedicated call center to answer any questions guests may have.

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