SCAM ALERT

Do not leave your key card on the nightstand or dresser when checking out of a hotel.

Often the magnetic strip has your name, address, phone number, credit card , etc.

Turn them in at the front desk.

Why the hell the hotel puts that info on the key card, I have no idea.

But they do, according to latest identity theft book " The Silent Crime " .

I often wonder about casino player's cards, if they also have personal information on them. I can't count how many get left at slot machines all over the place and I wonder if someone could go around picking them up and running them thru one of those portable readers and find out someone's address and their driver's license number.

Quote: buzzpaff

Turn them in at the front desk.

Who are you worried will find it in the room? Employees of the hotel.

Who are you giving it to if you turn it in at the front desk? Employees of the hotel.

Seems like running a magnet over them would be the better course if you're worried about identity theft.

HOAX Alert : http://www.hoax-slayer.com/hotel-key-card.html

The keycard doesn't contain personal data. It contains a chain of numbers for the lock.

I can't speak for other hotels, but our keycard maker isn't even linked to our HOS in any way, shape or form.

Snopes also confirms it is a hoax.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/hotelkey.asp

Hotel key cards contain a serial number and reveal nothing about the guest or his billing information.

However, you should indeed beware of such hotel locks since there are two ways to defeat the locks using ordinary test equipment and a battery which would be available at about ten dollars. Depending on the company and the model such equipment can open up about 90 percent of rooms in a matter of seconds. Its basically a way of sending the security over-ride signal from a test lead.

If your lock has Torx screws then its probably been fitted with a plug that blocks access to the data port, but a real "fix" to the problem requires the hotel to individually install new circuit boards and the lock company refuses to foot the bill for this.

For those interested in the fact that 90 percent of hotel locks can be easily opened, please google Black Hat and locks.

Wallace, IT director at AAA Reading-Berks in Wyomissing, Penn. has been bringing a card reader with him on business trips to see what's on the magnetic strips of his hotel room access cards. To his dismay, a surprising number have contained his name and credit card information - and in unencrypted form.


What’s scary is how easy it is for even a novice to steal this information. He says he bought a $39 card reader at a local retail store and plugged it into his laptop's USB port. Now when he scans a card, the device inputs the data directly into an open Excel or Word document.

And then we got Slashdotted: "This is why you always keep your keycards, and you always destroy them. I've yet to have an issue with a hotel wanting it back. // I remember this hoax. It was a good one, too. // The Snopes article quotes a security expert who tested 6 cards at a security conference. 3 contained personal information, including one with a credit card number." etc. etc. etc. So the conclusion is... errr... ummm... next item please.

Quote: buzzpaff

Wallace, IT director at AAA Reading-Berks in Wyomissing, Penn. has been bringing a card reader with him on business trips to see what's on the magnetic strips of his hotel room access cards. To his dismay, a surprising number have contained his name and credit card information - and in unencrypted form.


What’s scary is how easy it is for even a novice to steal this information. He says he bought a $39 card reader at a local retail store and plugged it into his laptop's USB port. Now when he scans a card, the device inputs the data directly into an open Excel or Word document.

--> http://blogs.computerworld.com/node/1016 Yes so you are cut and pasting directly from a blog post there....

That's because i am computer illiterate. I only cut and paste a few sentences. Wife just bought me a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Have to wait until my granddaughter get home from school tomorrow to install it.

Quote: buzzpaff

That's because i am computer illiterate. I only cut and paste a few sentences. Wife just bought me a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Have to wait until my granddaughter get home from school tomorrow to install it.

Yeah, but just cut and pasting with out any content... or comment... is meaningless. That's nothing to do with computer illiteracy.

EH ???