What You Should Know About The Marriott Starwood Data Breach

Marriott International announced today that personal information of up to 500 million guests may have been accessed when its Starwood guest reservation database was breached. If you stayed at a Starwood hotel or resort sometime from 2014 to Sept. 10 2018, there is a chance you may be affected. The database contained personal guest information relating to reservations at Starwood properties and may be one of the largest breaches of consumer data to date.

The unauthorized access to guest information may include name, address, email, phone number, passport number, SPG account information, reservation details, and communication preferences. In addition, some customers may have also had their credit card information taken. While credit card data was encrypted, there is a possibility it could have been decoded.

What Marriott is doing

Marriott is actively working with authorities and sending out emails to guests in the Starwood reservation database that may have been affected. In addition, they have set-up a dedicated website to help answer questions and to provide access to resources including Free enrollment in WebWatcher. Keep reading for details on how to get help from Marriott and other safety precautions you can take.

What you should do

Go to the dedicated website for details

Visit: info.starwoodhotels.com
Call Starwood USA: 877-273-9481
The call center is open seven days a week and is available in multiple languages. See the dedicated website for additional phone numbers. Marriott warns the call volume may be high and asks for your patience.

Check your email for a notice from Marriott

Marriott will begin sending emails on a rolling basis starting today, November 30, 2018, to affected guests whose email addresses are in the Starwood guest reservation database. Be cautious about phishing emails related to the hack, be sure to check the email is actually from a legitimate Marriott account and don’t open any attachments or provide anyone personal information.

Sign up for WebWatcher

Marriott is providing guests with the opportunity to enroll in WebWatcher free of charge for one year. WebWatcher monitors internet sites where personal information is shared and generates an alert to the consumer. Visit: info.starwoodhotels.com to activate WebWatcher

Other precautions you can take

Change your passwords – Even if you weren’t hacked, it’s always a good idea to change your passwords regularly and consider using a trusted password manager such as LastPass or PassPack.

Freeze your credit – It’s free to freeze your credit and it prevents anyone from opening a new account, loan or credit card in your name. And it won’t damage your credit score.

If you’re interested, you can read more about ways to keep your data and devices safe.

You can read the full press release from Marriott here: Marriott/Starwood Breach Press Release

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