P.F. Chang’s CEO Confirms Breach Affected 33 Locations

In a statement released Monday (August 4), restaurant chain P.F. Chang CEO Rich Federico confirmed that the data breach reported in early June 2014 affected 33 locations at the chain nationwide. The cyber attack hit the Chinese bistro’s payment card processing systems and cybercriminals were likely able to make off with credit and debit card numbers, and (in some cases) the cardholders’ names and card expiration dates.

“Our team, including third-party forensics experts, has been working continuously to understand the nature and scope of the incident,” Frederico wrote. “This investigation is ongoing. The security compromise, however, has been contained, and P.F. Chang’s has been processing credit and debit card data securely since June 11, 2014.”

According to the company’s website, the 33 P.F. Chang’s locations were hit between October 2013 and June 2014. The attacks were at location all across the U.S., though California had the largest number of compromised locations with six (~30 percent).

P.F. Chang’s is encouraging users to monitor their credit reports and is offering, at no additional charge, potentially compromised customers to have the credit bureaus place a “fraud alert” on their files. Such an alert tells potential creditors to undertake additional identity verification steps prior to issuing credit. As soon as one credit bureau confirms an individual’s fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on that individual’s file.

Frederico further noted that he regrets any difficulties the breach may have caused for guests, and notes that customers can see a full list of breached P.F. Chang’s locations (and the dates they were breached) by clicking here.