Still developing right now, the United States Secret Service is now investigating this latest security threat to credit card holders who stayed at a number of well-known hotels in the Chicago area and several other cities.
And unlike the retail credit card incursions at Target and Michael's, this one appears to have taken place over an extended period of time from March to December of last year.
For nine months, the owner of two major hotels on Chicago's Southwest Side says that cyberthieves may have stolen credit and debit card information at both the Marriott Midway and the Holiday Inn Midway Airport in Chicago.
The hotels are owned by White Lodging Services Corporation, headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana. White Lodging owns and manages 168 hotels in 21 states, but on Monday, says 14 of them are suspected of being breached by electronic hackers.
The list of suspected data security breaches includes the firms Merrillville Holiday Inn Star Plaza.
A company executive says thieves unlawfully accessed names on cards, numbers, security codes and expiration dates.
While the company also owns and operates numerous Marriott and Hilton properties throughout metro Chicago, these locations are not known to be affected at this point, and guests who did not use credit cards would not be affected.
Officials say they believe the security breach happened at the front desk and food and beverage point of sale. In addition to the Midway and Merrilville locations that are known to have been infiltrated by cyber thieves, others include Virginia, Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky.
LIST OF HOTELS AFFECTED BY CYBERATTACK:
Marriott Midway, Chicago, IL
Holiday Inn Midway, Chicago, IL
Holiday Inn Austin Northwest, Austin, TX
Sheraton Erie Bayfront, Erie, PA
Westin Austin at the Domain, Austin, TX
Marriott Boulder, Boulder, CO
Marriott Denver South, Denver, CO
Marriott Austin South, Austin, TX
Marriott Indianapolis Downtown, Indianapolis, IN
Marriott Richmond Downtown, Richmond, VA
Marriott Louisville Downtown, Louisville KY
Renaissance Plantation, Plantation, FL
Renaissance Broomfield Flatiron, Broomfield, CO
Radisson Star Plaza, Merrillville, IN
