Wawa Alerts Customers of Criminal Attempts to Sell Breached Data

WAWA, Pa. — Wawa Inc. announced that it is aware of criminal attempts to sell some customer payment card information online that was potentially involved in the previous data breach may have affected all of the chain's locations.

The convenience store retailer alerted its payment card processor, payment card brands and card issuers to heighten fraud monitoring activities in order to help further protect customer information.

"We continue to work closely with federal law enforcement in connection with their ongoing investigation to determine the scope of the disclosure of Wawa-specific customer payment card data," the company wrote in an update to its open letter to customers.

On Dec. 19, 2019, Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens notified customers that malware affected payment card information used at potentially all Wawa locations beginning at different points in time after March 4, 2019 and until it was contained on Dec. 12, as Convenience Store News previously reported.

Wawa encouraged customers to continue reviewing charges on their card statements and immediately report any unauthorized charges to their financial institution.

"In the unlikely event any individual customer who has promptly notified their card issuer of fraudulent charges related to this incident is not reimbursed, Wawa will work with them to reimburse them for those charges," Wawa continued.

Customers can sign up for free credit monitoring and identity theft protection here or by calling a dedicated toll-free call center at (844) 386-9559.

The retailer also noted that it is confident the malware discover on Dec. 10 was contained by Dec. 12 and has not since posed a risk to customers.

"We also remain confident that only payment card information was involved, and that no debit card PIN numbers, credit card CVV2 numbers or other personal information were involved," the company said. "This incident did not impact ATM transactions."

Pennsylvania-based Wawa operates more than more than 880 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.