Houston-based Landry's, which operates a chain of restaurants across North America, kicked off the New Year by announcing Tuesday (Dec 31) that its payment system had been infected with credit card-stealing malware for most of 2019

However, the malware could only have stolen card data if a clerk mistakenly ran a customer's credit card through the restaurant's food and beverage ordering system rather than through a credit card reader, Landry's said in a notice posted on its website

Both systems allow waitstaff to swipe magnetic stripe cards through the card reader, but Landry's said that despite the infection, no card numbers were stolen from the payment card system According to the Houston Chronicle, Landry's installed a fully encrypted payment card system in 2016 in response to a previous rash of payment card thefts

"The general time period during which data from cards accidentally swiped in the order entry system may have been accessed is from March 13, 2019, through October 17, 2019," the company's notice stated" A small number of stores may have been accessed as early as January 18, 2019"

The company does not estimate the number of customer credit and debit cards that may have been compromised, but anyone who ate or drank at a Landry's-owned restaurant during that period should check their card statements and report any irregularities to their card issuer immediately

Landry's will be offering a variety of restaurants, including "The Boathouse," "Blue Water Grill," "Bubba Gump Shrimp Company," "Claim Jumper," "Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House," "Del Frisco's Grille, Dos Caminos, Joe's Crab Shack, McCormick & Schmick's, Mitchell's Fish Market, Morton's The Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe, Vic & Anthony's Grille, Dos Caminos, Joe's Crab Shack, McCormick & Schmick's, Mitchell's Fish Market, Morton's The Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe, Vic & Anthony's Grille, Dos Caminos, Joe's Crab Shack, McCormick & Schmick's, Morton's The Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe, Rainforest Cafe and Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse The company also operates Golden Nugget casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Laughlin, Nevada, and Lake Charles, Louisiana For a list of all Landry's locations, click here

Concerned customers can call Landry's toll-free at 1-833-991-1538, 8 am to 8 pm Central Standard Time, Monday through Friday The company has not indicated whether it will offer identity protection services to affected customers