GSP, P.C. is investigating a possible claim on behalf of all persons whose private information was compromised as a result of stolen credit card information as announced by The Wendy’s Company (“Wendy’s) on May 11, 2016. If you dined at a Wendy’s restaurant between October 26, 2015 and March 10, 2016, and have experienced fraudulent transactions on a credit or debit card since then, you may be a victim of this Wendy’s credit card breach.
According to a major credit card company, the types of data stolen in Wendy’s credit card breach may include your name, your card account number, the card’s expiration date, service code and verification code.
In its mid-May first quarter financial statement, the fast food restaurant chain reported that the Wendy’s credit card breach affected less than 300 of its 5800 North American locations, totaling about 5% of its stores. However, by mid-June, Wendy’s spokesperson, Bob Bertini, announced that the breach is “considerably higher than the 300 restaurants already implicated.” In addition, at least one news article indicates that Wendy’s knew the data breach was ongoing even after it made its May announcement.
According to Bertini, the breach came in two waves. Initially, malware was installed on point-of-sale (“POS”) devices at 300 locations. But Bertini says another strain of malware was found recently on a different POS system. Once hackers load the malware they remotely steal data when a credit card is swiped. That information is easily transferred onto other cards that use magnetic strips and used to make purchases.
Wendy’s stated it disabled the malware where it was detected. Basically, Wendy’s still does not know whether the Wendy’s credit card breach has been contained. Bertini stated, “Wherever we are finding it we’ve taken action . . . but we can’t rule out that there aren’t others.” So far, Wendy’s has not shared the details of that strain or how many are affected.
Fraud analysts report that changing the magnetic strip card reader to a chip reader would help because it is very expensive for a hacker to copy. Numerous big retailers have already moved to that process. However, the VP and treasurer at The Wendy’s Company, Gavin Waugh, disagrees. Wendy’s has not announced when it will start using chip readers at its stores.
If you believe you may have been affected or if you have used a credit card at any of Wendy’s locations, please contact a GSP attorney to learn more about your rights. GSP attorneys are actively litigating data breach actions against Community Health Systems, Anthem, Premera, Intuit, United Shore and Target. Please contact Mark Goldman at [email protected] or call (484) 342-0700 with any questions you may have. Please also check our websites: www.lawgsp.com and www.anthemdataclassaction.com.
