Islands Restaurants Announces Payment Card Incident

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Islands Restaurants was alerted to a potential payment card issue, immediately started an investigation, and took steps to end unauthorized access to our payment card network. A leading computer forensic firm was engaged, and a thorough investigation was conducted to determine what occurred and what restaurant locations and time frames were involved. Islands notified the card networks and provided information to support an investigation by law enforcement.

Over the general time frame of February 18, 2019 to September 27, 2019, malware was installed on certain point-of-sale devices in our restaurants that were used for payment card transactions. The time frames involved vary by restaurant. Not all Islands restaurants were involved, and for some restaurants some but not all devices were involved. And at many of the restaurants involved, cards were not successfully obtained during certain weeks in March 2019. So, it is possible that not every card used at a restaurant during the time frame involved was found by the malware. 

The malware was designed to look for data read from the magnetic stripe of a payment card as it was being routed through the system. Data in the magnetic stripe includes the cardholder name, card number, expiration date, and internal verification code. In some instances, the malware only identified the portion of the magnetic stripe that contained payment card information without the cardholder name.

Lists of the restaurants involved and their respective time frames are available at:

www.islandsrestaurants.com/paymentcardnotification

This site also provides information about the incident and additional steps customers may take.

Islands quickly took measures to contain the incident, remove the malware, and has been working to implement measures to further enhance payment card security. It is always advisable to remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud by reviewing payment card statements for any unauthorized activity. You should immediately report any unauthorized charges to the bank that issued your card because payment card rules generally provide that cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized charges reported in a timely manner. The phone number to call is usually on the back of the payment card.   

For more information regarding this incident, customers may visit the sites listed above or call 833-935-1380 Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

SOURCE Islands Restaurants

Related Links

http://www.islandsrestaurants.com