Dairy Queen confirms data breach in Mid-Missouri
Friday, another company announced a big security breach nationwide.
Dairy Queen said about 400 of its locations across the country have been hacked. Seventeen of those are in Missouri.
Two Dairy Queen locations were hacked in Columbia including the DQ Grill and Chill Restaurant on Business Loop 70 East and the one on Forum Boulevard.
Customers who visited those locations from August 5-31 may be affected.
In a letter to Dairy Queen and Orange Julius customers, the company’s president and CEO said DQ was infected by something called Backoff malware that’s targeting retailers across the country.
The affected computer systems contained customers’ names, payment card numbers and expiration dates.
Tracy Perkins with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crime Task Force said if you were a customer within that time period, now is the time to act fast.
Tracy Perkins, Boone Co. Cyber Crimes Task Force: “You need to one: start monitoring your statements and make sure that there’s no unnecessary charges/additional charges on it. You need to start checking your credit report and make sure that other accounts haven’t been created in your account.”
Perkins said you should also contact your bank or credit card holder and ask for a new credit or debit card. She said even if you haven’t seen any unusual charges on your account yet, hackers can use the data to find your name, address and other things associated with your account.
The Dairy Queen International Spokesperson Dean Peters said customers affected by the breach can visit DQ.com. He said they are offering those customers identity-repair services free of charge for a year.
Perkins said there is only one sure way to prevent your information from being stolen in security breaches such as this.
Perkings: “There’s really no simple solution to stop this. But if you don’t want any headaches use cash.”
Other Dairy Queen locations affected in Mid-Missouri include the one in Sedalia on Limit Avenue, Camdenton on Business Highway 5 and Saline J Highway.
You can find a full list of affected stores byclicking here.
If you think you may have been affected by the breach or have any questions, you can call Dairy Queen toll-free at 1-855-865-4456.
