Sally Beauty Confirms Payment Card Data Breach

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. confirmed on Thursday that its payment card systems were breached, though the company declined to detail the scope of the intrusion.

The Texas-based retailer said earlier this month that it was investigating reports of unusual activity involving payment cards at some stores. That came a year after disclosing a breach that affected more than 25,000 customer records.

On Thursday, Sally Chief Executive Chris Brickman said a forensics investigation into the breach is under way. He noted that customers won't be responsible for fraudulent charges to their accounts that are reported promptly.

Customers can call the company's customer service hotline at 1-866-234-9442 or email [e-mail].

The breach follows a string of high-profile incidents over the past few years. Target Corp.'s 2013 breach, which compromised 40 million credit- and debit-card accounts, has led to renewed calls for merchants to upgrade their checkout terminals to accept cards that are embedded with computer chips that are more difficult for thieves to replicate.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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