Massive data breach at major hotel chain alleged

Expert says information being sold online for bitcoin appears genuine

Shanghai police said on Wednesday that they are investigating a claim that Huazhu Hotels Group Ltd, one of the country's largest hotel operators listed on the Nasdaq, had experienced a massive data breach.

A post went viral on the internet on Tuesday claiming that nearly 500 million pieces of personal information related to customers had been exposed. The chain has more than 3,000 hotels nationwide.