Willard Park Garage

Officials said at least 36 people had their credit card and/or bank account information stolen after a data breach at Willard Park Garage under Cleveland City Hall.

(Cory Shaffer, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The vendor that runs the parking garage under Cleveland City Hall confirmed a data breach in late October potentially compromised sensitive information of hundreds of people who park in the garage.

Ken Russo, director of support services for Datapark, confirmed in a city-issued statement that the company's financial security system had been breached, potentially compromising bank account and/or credit card information of those who have used the Willard Park Garage under Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue.

The breach was brought to light after 13 employees of the Federal Building came forward Oct. 22 when they noticed fraudulent charges on their credit cards. The only common factor between them was paying for parking at Willard Park Garage, a city spokesman said.

The city has now verified 36 people who had their information stolen, spokesman Dan Williams said Saturday.

The city's Division of Parking Facilities encouraged the victims to file police reports, and the Cleveland police department's financial crimes unit is investigating.

Those who used the garage in recent weeks should monitor their financial information for suspicious charges, the city said.

Russo said the company eliminated the unauthorized access to the credit card server, and is still investigating the specifics of the breach. Russo said more information will be released Monday.

Datapark also runs the payment centers at the city's Gateway East Parking Garage, but the city has not received any complaints from customers at that garage, the city said.

Update: The city has corrected information previously provided to Northeast Ohio Media Group. The hacker did not use a skimmer to steal the data. A statement from Datapark is expected Monday afternoon.