Clark Howard responds to massive Marriott data breach, suggests freezing credit

Jacksonville, FL — Marriott International is announcing a massive database hack at its Starwood division, impacting up to 500 million guests across the world.

Consumer Warrior Clark Howard is responding to the news calling it a big deal to all travelers.

"The criminals have our names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and if you travel internationally – your passport number as well."

Clark says Marriott owns three-dozen brand names. He says Starwood is one of the biggest players in hotels worldwide – which includes Sheraton and Westin hotels. According to Clark, higher-end income guests who tend to stay at these hotels are the primary targets of this hack.

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Clark is encouraging anybody who frequents Marriott hotels to not only be cautious about who is trying to contact them but also to freeze their credit. Clark says with all the information out there – some people may start trying to reach out to victims of this hack to try and scam them out of more money.

READ: Credit freezes are free for everyone: What you need to know 

Clark says its possible credit card information was also hacked – which is why he’s encouraging credit freezes. According to Marriot – this hack started in 2014. Clark says back then chip readers were not as prevalent as they are now.

"The processing of credit cards went through obsolete technology where the cards were swiped at the terminal that you checked in at."