Publication: Travel Tips
Card Key Paranoia | |
Subscribe FREE to Travel Tips by clicking here.
============================================================
COOL TRAVEL MAIL'S
TRAVEL TIPS
Tips & Advice for the Seasoned and Armchair Traveler Alike!
============================================================
http://www.CoolTravelMail.com
Oct. 2, 2007
The warning about hotel key cards has been out for a while
now.
The warning, issued in an e-mail that's been flashing around
cyberspace, alleges that unscrupulous hotel operators have
been collecting credit card numbers and other personal
information on hotel keys.
Scary, huh? I received the warning in my e-mail last week.
It was forwarded to me by a savvy and trusted source.
A closer look, however, shows that travelers may not have
that much to worry about.
Today's topics include:
* CARD KEY PARANOIA
* AN ALTERED ALERT
* MAKE YOUR ROOM KEY DISPOSABLE ANYWAY
P.S. If you're interested you can now post comments on this
and recent issues on our forum at... Travel Tips Forum
============================================================
GLACIER SUNGLASSES by Dakota
Dakota Retail Price: $69.99
DEAL PRICE: $2.99
The Glacier name says it all... you'll look oh so cool
in them! As with all Dakota glasses, these Glacier
styles will block 100% of harmful UV Rays. What's more
this particular style looks good on either men or women.
PLEASE NOTE: Because of the low price we can not allow
for a selection of frame color. Frame colors are either
Black, Silver or Bronze.
Click on the link to see a picture or to order.
GLACIER SUNGLASSES by Dakota
============================================================
CARD KEY PARANOIA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The warning has apparently been circulating since October,
2003. Here's the email I, and probably many of you, have
received:
“Southern California law enforcement professionals assigned
to detect new
threats to personal security issues recently
discovered what type of
information is embedded in the
credit-card-type hotel room keys used
throughout the
industry.
Although room keys differ from hotel to hotel, a key
obtained from the
"Double Tree" chain that was being used for
a regional Identity Theft
Presentation was found to contain
the following the information: Customers name, partial home
address, hotel room number, check-in date and check-out
date, customer's credit card number and expiration date.
When you turn them in to the front desk, your personal
information is
there for any employee to access by simply
scanning the card in the hotel
scanner.
An employee can take a handful of cards home and,using a
scanning
device, access the information onto a laptop
computer and go shopping at your
expense.
Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these
cards until an employee re-issues the card to the next hotel
guest. At that time, the
new guest's information is
electronically "overwritten" on the card and the previous
guest's information is erased in the overwriting process.
But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it
usually is kept
in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR
INFORMATION ON IT!!!!
The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you,
or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room
wastebasket, and
NEVER turn them in to the front desk when
you check out of a room.
They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and
you'll be sure you
are not leaving a lot of valuable personal
information on it that could be easily lifted off with any
simple scanning device card reader. For the same
reason, if
you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the
card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash
basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up,
especially through the electronic
information strip!
Information courtesy of:
Sergeant K. Jorge, Detective Sergeant, Pasadena Police
Department”
============================================================
4-in-1 PILL MASTER...
Store Price: $4.99
DEAL PRICE: $1.99 (or get two for $2.98)
This is so amazing! It has everything you need to ensure
you take your vitamins or other medicines. And our price
is even MORE AMAZING. For less than what you would pay
for just a pill cutter you will get the 4 in 1 Pill Master.
With the Pill Master you get:
- Pill Crusher - Pill Splitter
- Handy Drinking Cup - Dual Storage Compartment
And it's compact enough to fit in a purse or jacket pocket.
We guarantee you will love the Pill Master. If you don't
simply return it for a refund. Check out this little
wonder: 4 in 1 Pill Master
============================================================
AN ALTERED ALERT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since issuing the alert, however, Sgt. Kathryn Jorge has
apparently toned it down a bit.
“In years past," she said in a statement quoted by the news
Website Bend.com, "existing software would prompt the user
(employee) for information input. If the employee was
unaware of hotel policy dictating that such information NOT
be entered, it could have ended up on the card in error.
“Since this subject came up, experiments on newer cards have
failed to duplicate the problem. It appears that the problem
is not as widespread as it used to be in the larger chain
hotels."
The urban legend nature of the warning is echoed on the
Website TruthorFiction.com (http://www.truthorfiction.com):
“Hotels and resorts are increasingly issuing credit card-
looking "key cards" to guests instead of traditional metal
keys for use in opening the doors to guest rooms.
That's increased security for guests since metal keys could
be easily duplicated and most of them had the number of the
room stamped on them making it easy for a stolen or lost key
to be used for entry.
The key cards do not have any visible indication of what
room they open.
They also have a magnetic strip on the back that can be
programmed, for example, with the dates that the guest is
going to use the room so that the key cannot be used after
that unless it is programmed with fresh information.
Do hotel key cards have guests' personal information on
them?
We surveyed several major hotels in California, Nevada, and
Florida and the consensus was emphatic: No hotel key cards
have any personal information on them, not even the guest's
name.
There are some hotels, such as the Hard Rock and Portofina
Hotels in Orlando, Florida, that allow key cards to be used
for purchases, but there is no identifying information on
the key card. The purchases are billed to the room number
and added to the guests hotel charges.
============================================================
WOODEN GAME BOX & GAME SET
Normal Price: $19.99
DEAL PRICE: $4.99
This handsome Game Box is made out of high quality wood and
is an excellent way to store your playing cards and dice so
you never forget where you put them.
A perfect gift for a fellow player. It is truly an elegant
display accessory for any table game. This classy wooden
card box comes is felt lined with convenient compartments
to keep everything in its place! Looks great on a book-
shelf, coffee table... anywhere!
INCLUDES:
- Two (2) Decks of Playing Cards
- Five (5) Standard Dice
- Scorepad
- Classic Card & Dice Games Instruction Book
- Two (2) Pencils
You must see this, so click on the link below to see a
picture or to place your order. Once these are gone, they
are gone! WOODEN GAME BOX & GAME SET
============================================================
MAKE YOUR ROOM KEY DISPOSABLE ANYWAY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One fraud detective said the eRumor may have been prompted
by a police case from Southern California where
investigators broke up a group of foreign credit card
crooks.
They had a large number of stolen key cards from a
particular hotel. The police decided to scan them to see
what was on them and they found credit card debit card
numbers, not hotel room information.
The reason, according to the detective, is that the crooks
can use a credit card scanning device to steal credit and
debit card information, program it on to a hotel key card
and use it just like the original card.
He said that there was a case in Fresno, where a member of a
foreign credit card fraud gang was an employee at a gas
station. He had made a device that would scan customers'
credit and debit card info on to a hotel key card at the
same time that the card was being used for a purchase.”
All that said, it is still a good idea to destroy your hotel
room card when you check out.
Law enforcement officials still warn that lost or stolen
hotel keys can be put to ill use by identity thieves. They
can be re-encoding with stolen personal information and used
to mimic ATM or credit cards for unauthorized purchases and
withdrawals.
Well, that's it for this week, group. Thanks again for
reading, and please keep those comments, complaints and
questions coming in.
You can send me an e-mail message at: Email Pierce
Until next week, thanks for reading.
Your Tipmeister,
Pierce
************************************************************
ARCHIVES: Travel Tips Archives
See hundreds of free Travel Video Clips online at:
Great Free Travel Videos
------------------------------------------------------------
End of Travel Tips - Another free ezine from GopherCentral
(c)2007 NextEra Media. All rights reserved.
 E-Mail this issue
Subscribe FREE to Travel Tips by clicking here.
|