Consumer Alert: Marriott Data Breach

Tallahassee, Fla. - Marriott announced Friday that hackers stole data from as many as 500 million guests who made reservations at Marriott's Starwood properties. The hack, which began in 2014, compromised information including combinations of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences. If you made a reservation on or before September 10, 2018, at a Starwood property, information you provided may have been involved. To enroll in WebWatcher and get additional information about the breach, visit the incident response website, email incidentsupport@kroll.com, or call (877) 273-9481.

As Florida’s financial regulator, the OFR encourages you to understand how to reduce your risk of identity theft and take immediate steps to protect your personal identifying information.

Reduce your risk of identity theft by:

• Changing your passwords on all your accounts regularly.
• Checking your credit report at least annually with the three national credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).
• Shredding or destroying all documents with personal identifying information when you are finished with them.
• Never verifying or giving personal identifying information over the phone or through email, especially if the contact was unsolicited.
• Request fraud alerts on your accounts and your credit report.

Reduce your risk of identity theft by:

• Check: Watch for suspicious or unauthorized transactions on your financial, professional and personal accounts. Contact the sender immediately if financial statements or bills do not arrive on time.
• Contact: File a report with the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and local law enforcement. Contact your financial institutions to alert them, and to replace your debit and credit cards. Request a fraud alert on your credit reports from the three national credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).
• Collect: Collect all evidence that you may have to support your claim. This could be cancelled checks, credit card receipts, unusual email messages, etc.