Chili's Announces Data Breach, Ramsey Location May Be Affected

RAMSEY, NJ — Credit and debit card information taken at the Chili's restaurant on Route 17 North may have been comprised in a data breach.

The Dallas, Texas-based chain said it learned of the breach on Friday. Officials think the breach was limited to March and April, but are continuing to assess the situation with a third-party forensics expert. The matter has also been referred to law enforcement for investigation.

Information taken at Chili's other Bergen County location, in Paramus, may also have been compromised.

The company has not released a full list of affected locations. Chili's said information will be posted as it becomes available on Brinker International's website. Brinker International is Chili's parent company.

"Based on the details of the issue currently uncovered, we believe that malware was used to gather payment card information including credit or debit card numbers as well as cardholder names from our payment-related systems for in-restaurant purchases at certain Chili's restaurants," Brinker said in a statement.

Guests who dined at Chili's during the affected period do not need to cancel their debit or credit cards, but they should check their account statements for accuracy. Suspicious activity should be reported to banking and credit card companies.

With reporting by Tom Davis, Patch staff

Related: Chili's Announces Data Breach: NJ Locations May Be Affected

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Image via Shutterstock