The Krystal Co. said today it is investigating a possible breach of security in its payment processing of credit and debit cards this summer.
The fast-food restaurant chain said “a security incident that involves one of the payment processing systems” may have been compromised. That system serves many of the company’s 342 restaurants in 10 Southeastern states, including 18 in Chattanooga, Cleveland, Dalton and Athens, Tenn.
“Our company has retained a leading forensics firm and is conducting an investigation to determine the extent to which information in Krystal’s systems may have been impacted,” Krystal spokeswoman Angela Johnson said in a statement today. “We are cooperating with law enforcement and have also notified the payment card networks of the investigation. Although our investigation is in its early stages, we have learned that the security incident may have involved payment cards processed by a payment processing system used at certain restaurants between July through September 2019.”
Krystal said it uses multiple payment processing systems and not all are impacted by the potential security breach. Johnson said the company has taken steps to contain and remediate the incident and set up a dedicated website to provide more information. Customers also may call 1-800-457-9782 for updates.
“While our investigation continues, we would like to remind all of our guests to be vigilant and that it is always good practice to review your payment card statements regularly and report any unusual or unauthorized purchases to your financial institution,” Johnson said.
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Local restaurants that might be affected by the security breach:
Chattanooga
4416 Highway 58,
307 Cherokee Blvd.
2293 E. 23rd Street
4868 Hixson Pike
7300 Shallowford Road
6119 Lee Highway
621 Signal Mountain Road
5401 Brainerd Road
3105 Broad Street
Other area Krystal restaurants potentially affected:
2510 Keith Street in Cleveland
6300 Ringgold Road in East Ridge
5053 Hunter Road in Ooltewah
106 Highway 72 in South Pittsburg
2511 Decatur Pike in Athens
301 West Waught St.
1909 East Walnut St. in Dalton, Ga.
2560 Lafayette Road in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
5703 Alabama Highway in Ringgold, Ga.