Brooks Brothers Notifies Customers of Payment Card Security Incident

NEW YORK, May 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brooks Brothers recently became aware of a security incident that could affect the payment card information of some customers who made purchases at certain Brooks Brothers and Brooks Brothers Outlet retail locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico only between April 4, 2016 and March 1, 2017. It is important to note that no sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers or personally identifying information, was affected in this incident.  As a precaution, we are providing this notice to make potentially affected customers aware of the incident and provide information on steps they can take to help protect themselves. We take the security of our customers' information very seriously and value the trust you place in us to protect your information. We deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this may cause you.

What Happened

Brooks Brothers was recently alerted to a potential security incident. Based upon an extensive forensic investigation, it appears that an unauthorized individual was able to gain access to and install malicious software designed to capture payment card information on some of our payment processing systems at our retail and outlet locations. To find out if your Brooks Brothers or Brooks Brothers Outlet location was impacted, please visit www.brooksbrothers.com/incident-locations for a list of affected locations. Please note that this incident did not affect any purchases made on the BrooksBrothers.com website nor does it affect any transactions at Brooks Brothers airport locations.

What Information Was Involved

Based on our investigation to date, we believe the malicious software could have affected payment card data – including name, payment card account number, card expiration date, and card verification code – of some customers who used a payment card at affected Brooks Brothers or Brooks Brothers Outlet locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico only. The incident did not affect Social Security numbers, customer addresses, or any other sensitive personal information. Although not all transactions were affected, the forensic investigation has indicated that this incident may have impacted certain individuals who made payment card purchases between April 4, 2016 and March 1, 2017. Please visit www.brooksbrothers.com/incident-locations for a listing of the affected locations and additional information on steps consumers can take to help protect themselves.

What We Are Doing

We take the security of our customers' information very seriously and, once we learned of this incident, we took immediate action including initiating an internal review, engaging independent forensic experts to assist us in the investigation and remediation of our systems and alerting law enforcement. While we are continuing to review and enhance our security measures moving forward to help prevent a future incident, we can confirm that this issue has been resolved and is no longer impacting transactions.

What You Can Do

In order to help protect themselves, we recommend that customers review credit and debit card account statements as soon as possible in order to determine if there are any discrepancies or unusual activity listed. We urge customers to remain vigilant and continue to monitor statements for unusual activity going forward. If they see anything they do not understand or that looks suspicious, or if they suspect that any fraudulent transactions have taken place, customers should immediately notify the issuer of the credit or debit card. In instances of payment card fraud, it is important to note that cardholders are typically not responsible for any fraudulent activity that is reported in a timely fashion.

Although this incident did not include Social Security numbers, addresses, or other sensitive personal information, as a general practice, we recommend that you carefully check your credit reports for accounts you did not open or for inquiries from creditors you did not initiate. If you see anything you do not understand, call the credit agency immediately. As an additional precaution, we are providing information and resources to help customers protect their identities. This includes an "Information About Identity Theft" reference guide, available on our website at www.brooksbrothers.com/incident, which describes additional steps customers can take to help protect themselves, including recommendations from the Federal Trade Commission regarding identity theft protection.

For More Information

For more information about this incident, or if you have additional questions or concerns about this incident, you may contact us directly at 888-735-5927 between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM Eastern time, Monday through Friday.  In addition, the call center will be available this weekend, May 13^th and 14^th, between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM Eastern time. Again, we sincerely regret any concern this event may cause you.

MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Brooks Brothers