Australian Hyatt hotels hacked, guest credit card details stolen

Hyatt Hotels is the latest hotel chain to fall victim to hackers stealing sensitive credit card information from guests around the world, including flagship properties in Australia.

The Park Hyatt Sydney, Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt in Melbourne, Hyatt Hotel Canberra and Hyatt Regency Perth were among the hotels targetted over a six month period from July to December 2015, along with Hyatt hotels in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, the USA and Europe.

According to Hyatt, cards compromised by 'malware' software include those used primarily at hotel restaurants but also at spas, golf shops, car parks and at “a limited number of front desks”, with hackers collecting card numbers, cardholder names, expiration dates and verification codes.

“Protecting customer information is critically important to Hyatt,” said Chuck Floyd, Global President of Operations at Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

“We have been working tirelessly to complete our previously announced investigation regarding malware that targeted payment card data used at Hyatt-managed locations. We now have more complete information we want to share so that you can take steps to protect yourself,” he added.

It's not known if this wave of attacks is related to similar security breaches at Hilton and Starwood hotels revealed late last year but stretching back to November 2014, which saw similar details stolen from customer cards used at restaurants, gift shops and other point-of-sale systems.

Hyatt credit card hack: affected hotels, dates

Guest who stayed at any Hyatt hotel between July 30 2015 and December 8 2015 and presented a credit card at any time during their visit are advised to check the Hyatt website for the complete list of compromised hotels and the specific dates affecting each property.

(Being a US company, the dates on Hyatt’s list are formatted as mm/dd/yyyy, not the dd/mm/yyyy system used in Australia.)

If one or more of your hotel stays corresponds with the dates provided on the website, pay close attention to your credit card statements and double-check them for any unauthorised transactions that may have occurred since your stay, or even in the future.

Should you spot any unfamiliar payments on your account, report these to your credit card issuer immediately and prepare for your card to be replaced – which also involves the hassle of updating any direct debits you may have for things like gym memberships and insurance.

Guests who stayed at Hilton and Starwood hotels in 2014 and 2015 may also have had their credit card details compromised through similar malware attacks.

Source:  15th January 2016 - Australian Business Traveller - By Chris Chamberlin