The Ritz, one of London’s leading hotels has revealed details of a data breach in August 2020.
An investigation is currently underway after guests were contacted over the telephone by fraudsters posing as staff. The guests were asked to disclose personal data and bank account details after being informed that their initial restaurant reservations had been declined.
It has been reported by the BBC that on one occasion after a card was declined, the criminals impersonated a bank official and contacted a victim in an attempt to obtain a security code sent to her mobile phone.
On receiving the details from unsuspecting guests, the scammers attempted to buy thousands of pounds worth of goods online.
The Ritz confirmed the data breach on their Twitter page:
“We can confirm that on August 12 2020, we were aware of a potential data breach within our food and beverage reservation system, which may have compromised some of our clients’ personal data. This does not include any credit card details or payment information.
“We immediately launched an investigation to identify the cause of the breach, which is ongoing, to find out what happened, how and to prevent this from happening again. We have contacted all of our clients whose data may have been compromised and alerted the ICO of the incident.”
The Ritz has not revealed how many people were affected, but confirmed it was still investigating how customers’ personal information had been accessed.
The Ritz has contacted customers warning them that after a reservation has been made, the hotel will never contact them by telephone to request credit card details.
If you have been contacted by The Ritz or believe your data may have been compromised, get in touch with our team for advice.