Credit Card Fraud Traced To MetroLux Theatre In Loveland
LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4)- More than 1,200 cases of credit/debit card fraud have turned up in Northern Colorado in the past few weeks. The investigation has traced the origin of the fraud back to MetroLux 14 Theatres in Loveland.
When a credit card was swiped at the theatre, all the information was sent to an online account. That account was hacked.
The bank alerted Metropolitan Theatres, the parent company of MetroLux, about the suspicious activity on the account.
When the theatre launched its own investigation on Oct. 21, it confirmed the information had been compromised. That's when they hired their own forensic team to investigate.
"We immediately, at that point, talked with the bank and we decided to go ahead and shut down the internet access to the theater. We ceased taking credit cards or processing credit card transactions " said CFO Metropolitan Theatres Phil Herman.
It didn't take long to discover the theatre's internet had been hacked from an outside source.
"They committed a cyber attack on the system and were able to install some malware that then collected information and sent it back out," said Loveland Police Sgt. Mike Halloran.
Jennifer Wells saw unexplained charges on her credit card statement and came straight to the MetroLux.
"They said their internet was down right now and said if it doesn't get fixed to call them back," said Wells.
Kris Johnson, who used her debit card at the MetroLux in September, was surprised to learn her card had been deactivated.
"All they said was the police were investigating something in Northern Colorado and it could be linked to that," said Johnson.
"We don't know where this breach took place. We don't know if it's outside the U.S. It's clearly not at the theater, it's somewhere external but it could be anywhere in the world," said Herman.
Investigators are trying to figure that out. Right now, they don't know if other businesses besides the MetroLux have been targeted.
Federal, local and state authorities are working on the investigation. They're relying on the businesses to give up their financial information if they believe any suspicious activity or the accounts have been compromised.
