Fast food chain Sonic Drive-In is part of a new scandal, after millions of credit card numbers, belonging to their customers, have been stolen, reports Fox 4 News.
Apparently, the information contained by five million credit cards was made available for sale online and experts in cyber security noticed that most of them have one thing in common: they have been used at Sonic.
The authorities are expected to solve this
In an official statement, the company revealed that their credit card processor informed them about the unusual activity of their clients’ customer cards last week. Luckily, they don’t offer even more types of rewards credit cards.
Also, in the mean time, they asked forensic and law enforcement experts for help, in order to figure out what’s actually going on.
Currently, Sonic has almost 3500 fast food locations, spread through 45 states, and the information hackers are trying to sell is considered incredibly valuable, since most customers aren’t aware of this and haven’t cancelled their accounts yet.
The entire ‘collection’ of accounts is indexed for sale by city, state, as well as zip code, so anybody can purchase cards stolen from people living nearby. Apparently, the hackers are specialized in such operations, since they were aware of the fact that credit card companies block out-of-state transactions automatically. Basically, they’re avoiding anti-fraud protection.
Can it be something even worse?
Right now, we’re unsure about the magnitude of this, but the scenario in which is just the beginning of a much larger issue shouldn’t be ignored. However, all Sonic clients who used their cards in a location should check credit cards and bank accounts immediately.
It’s also worth mentioning that just payment information was stolen, so, unlike the recent Equifax breach, this won’t lead to any new lines of credit in users’ name. Basically, hackers will be able to use the card you already have.
Until everything is solved, we’re once again recommending Sonic clients to check balances and report any unauthorized activity to your credit card company or bank. Eventually, request a refund and a new credit card number!
