I came across a media report on what appears to be a breach involving card numbers of guests and employees of Island Resort & Casino in Michigan. But was it their breach or not?
Read the casino’s statement:
We would like to address the many rumors that are in circulation regarding the harvesting of credit/debit card information for use in unauthorized transactions.
Unfortunately, we have received reports that guests and employees of the Island Resort & Casino have had their debit/credit card information compromised while on property. As soon as we started receiving these reports, we immediately began working with those affected to not only determine the source of the compromise but also to ensure that no other guests or employees would be affected by these unscrupulous acts of fraud.
While in the process of working with the financial institutions of those affected by these acts of fraud, we have verified that all systems and processes of the Island Resort & Casino/Island Oasis are secure/uncompromised and that these incidents were NOT just isolated to the Island Resort & Casino/Island Oasis, but were also occurring on a local and national level as well.
As a result, we are encouraging everyone who has used their credit/debit card for ANY transactions to please check their credit/bank statements for any signs of fraudulent activity.
They repeat some of that in this media report.
So what are they saying? Guests who experienced fraud following use of their cards at the casino posted some frustrated comments on Facebook. In their shoes, I might feel frustrated, too. Was there a payment processor breach? Suggesting that the breach is regional or national would seem to rule out an ATM compromise, wouldn’t it? Did the casino bring in an expert firm to check their systems thoroughly to confirm that their system is secure or is their statement that their system is secure/uncompromised based on their own IT department’s investigation?
What really happened here? And why is there no notice on the casino’s web site? Posting signs on the premises or a Facebook page doesn’t reach everyone who may have experienced fraud and may be wondering whether the casino is aware of a problem.
I’ve emailed the casino to ask them to clarify their statement. If I get a response, I’ll update this post.