A popular chicken restaurant chain with several locations in central North Carolina said a “cyber-attack” by a “hacker” over an 11-month period took customer names and credit card info.
PDQ restaurants, which primarily sell chicken, were hit by the “breach” between May 19, 2017, and April 20, 2018, according to a news release from the restaurant chain.
PDQ has locations in Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest, Durham and Fayetteville and officials said that all restaurants were hit, except for the PDQ near PNC Arena in Raleigh and two Tampa, Fla. locations.
PDQ said in a news release Saturday that the breach included names, credit card numbers, expiration dates, and cardholder verification value, which is a three-digit code on the back of credit and debit cards.
“If you used a credit card for your purchase at a PDQ restaurant during the breach period, then your credit card number, expiration date, cardholder verification value and or name may have been accessed or acquired by a hacker,” the news release said.
The breach happened when “the attacker gained entry through an outside technology vendor’s remote connection tool,” restaurant officials said but did not elaborate.
The restaurant said that they first learned of the breach on June 8.
PDQ said that customers who may be affected “should remain vigilant in reviewing your account statements closely, monitoring free credit reports, and report any unauthorized charges to your card issuer immediately.”
If you have more questions, the restaurant said to visit www.eatPDQ.com or contact a PDQ representative at info@eatPDQ.com or (844) 328-1737 on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The restaurant chain also said that customers should obtain a credit report, which is free once every 12 months.
To order an annual free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228.
The three nationwide credit reporting companies are:
Equifax, PO Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374, www.equifax.com, 1-800-685-1111
Experian, PO Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, www.experian.com, 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion, PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, www.tuc.com, 1-800-916-8800
Victims of identity theft should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission and/or the Attorney General’s office in North Carolina or the state in which the breach happened.
