PORTLAND, Ore. — One day after Burgerville announced a data breach that spanned for more than a year, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the fast-food chain.
The lawsuit claims Burgerville knew about the cyberattack for months and did not tell people who may be affected in a timely manner.
“Burgerville knew it had been hacked for several months and failed to timely notify consumers of its data breach in the most expeditious manner possible as Oregon law requires,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by attorney Michael Fuller, on behalf of Oregon resident Cassandra Nelson. Fuller also alleges Burgerville didn’t have satisfactory protections in place to prevent consumers’ information from being accessed.
Burgerville revealed on Wednesday that anyone who used a credit or debit card at the restaurant between September 2017 and Sept. 30, 2018 may have had their information compromised.
According to a news release from the company, the FBI contacted Burgerville on Aug. 22, 2018 and notified company leaders of a cyberattack and breach in September of 2017. During the investigation that followed, Burgerville discovered that hackers had placed malware on the company’s network in order to continuously collect data and the breach was still active.
The company says it has since disabled the malware, but not before some of its customers’ credit and debit card information was potentially compromised. The information includes names, numbers, expiration dates and CVV numbers.
Fuller believes his client, and others impacted, should receive compensation for the costs and “harm caused by identity theft and independent third-party credit repair and monitoring services.”
Customers affected by the data breach can join the class action lawsuit here.
What you can do if impacted
If you were a Burgerville customer during the past year, the company recommends the following actions:
Review your card statements. Look for any unauthorized charges and report anything suspicious immediately.
Obtain a copy of your credit report and look for suspicious activity. You can get a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three top credit reporting agencies. To obtain an annual free credit report, visit annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.
Consider freezing your credit. You can freeze your credit for free. Information can be found at your credit bureau’s website.
- For Equifax: www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/
- For Experian: www.experian.com/freeze
- For TransUnion: www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
Call for more information. Burgerville has set up a call center for concerned customers. You can call 1-855-336-6688 anytime between the hours of 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.