Ticketmaster warns customers of data breach affecting personal info, credit cards

Ticketmaster is alerting customers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada about a data breach affecting account holders’ personal information, banking details and encrypted credit cards.

In the “notice of data breach” email, Ticketmaster wrote that “unauthorized activity” took place between April 2 and May 18.

The company said it learned on May 23 of the breach on “an isolated cloud database hosted by a third-party data services provider.” The company did not disclose the name of that third-party vendor.

The New York Times reported the breach claimed by the hacker group ShinyHunters affected more than 500 million Ticketmaster customers. ShinyHunters has taken credit for breaches at Microsoft and AT&T, among dozens of other companies, the Times said, citing federal prosecutors.

The company said the hack zeroed in on customers’ basic information, including their name, date of birth, banking information and credit card numbers and expirations dates.

Ticketmaster said that if customers had not received a letter by email or first-class mail, they likely were not among those affected by the data breach.

Economy powers on in second quarter

U.S. economic growth accelerated by more than forecast in the second quarter, illustrating demand is holding up under the weight of higher borrowing costs.

Gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annualized rate in the April-June period after rising 1.4% in the previous quarter, the government’s initial estimate showed. The economy’s main growth engine — personal spending — advanced 2.3%, also more than projected.

A closely watched measure of underlying inflation rose 2.9%, easing from the first quarter but still above estimates, the Bureau of Economic Analysis report showed Thursday.

Even though the pace of growth picked up from the first quarter, the figures still represent a moderation from last year. Consumer spending and broader economic activity have cooled under the weight of high interest rates, which is simultaneously helping to tame inflation gradually.

That bodes well for the Federal Reserve, which is trying to pull off a soft landing for the economy and likely to start cutting interest rates as soon as September.

Chipotle to train staff to be ‘generous’ with portions

Customers on social media have been furious with Chipotle for allegedly skimping on its burrito bowl portions this year. Now, the Newport Beach chain’s chief executive said the company is making changes.

“First, there was never a directive to provide less to our customers,” CEO Brian Niccol said during an earnings call Wednesday. “With that said, getting the feedback caused us to relook at our execution across our entire system.”

Niccol said the company will make “generous portions” more consistent across its more than 3,500 restaurants. He said about 10% of stores are outliers in portion sizes, and those locations will have to be retrained to the “right standards.”

Chipotle’s Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung said it will cost an extra $50 million to meet those new standards. With rising prices for food, many chains have been accused of shrinkflation, or selling tinier portion sizes for the same amount of money.

In June, a Wells Fargo analyst ordered and weighed 75 Chipotle burrito bowls with white rice, black beans, chicken, pico de gallo, cheese and lettuce across eight Chipotle locations in New York City. His team found a wide variety of the portion sizes.

Compiled from staff, Bloomberg and CNN reports.