Hotel Room Entry Cards....beware!

[harleyclarkey]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info. Never even thought about key cards containing

anything other than an access code for the room!

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

Answer:

a. Customer's name

B. Customer's partial home address

c. Hotel room number

d. Check-in date and out dates

e. 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 hand full 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 reissues 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.

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 into the front desk when you check out of a room.

They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal....maybe NOT in Thailand) 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!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several

times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything

on the card.

Information courtesy of: Metropolitan Police Service.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info.

Please do your research before posting this kind of nonsense.

[duceahearts]

...so who's right??

[harleyclarkey]

mmmm.maybe both of us. Seems the information CAN be entered.....I don't claim that it happens in EVERY hotel for EVERY guest. But it can be entered on the magnetic strip. Clearly the Hilton and other respectable chains instruct their staff what to enter on the card. But then not every hotel is the Hilton....and not every receptionist so instructed.

Me? I'll just be more careful in future.

"That's just a nasty rumor," says Kathy Shepard, vice president in charge of corporate communications for Hilton Hotels Corporation, which owns and operates the Doubletree Hotel chain. "Our key cards are encrypted with minimal information -- the guest's name, room number and arrival and departure dates -- and encrypted in such a way that they can't be read by ordinary card readers.""

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."

That said, it's worth noting that law enforcement officials still warn that lost or stolen hotel keys can be put to ill use by identity thieves in another way - namely, re-encoding them with stolen personal information and using them to mimic ATM or credit cards for unauthorized purchases and withdrawals. Prudence therefore dictates returning key cards to the hotel registration desk upon checking out or destroying them to prevent their falling into the wrong hands.

Update: Official statement from the City of Pasadena.

Edited July 7, 2009 by harleyclarkey

[craigt3365]

This has been reported here in the USA on 60 Minutes. They say the same thing...destroy the card, don't turn it back in....

[roamer]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info. Never even thought about key cards containing

anything other than an access code for the room!

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

Answer:

a. Customer's name

B. Customer's partial home address

c. Hotel room number

d. Check-in date and out dates

e. 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 hand full 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 reissues 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.

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 into the front desk when you check out of a room.

They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal....maybe NOT in Thailand) 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!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several

times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything

on the card.

Information courtesy of: Metropolitan Police Service.

If I were you I would sleep easy in your bed folks.

Because at the end of the day these devious hotel employees who have access to card scanners at home and who are prepared to lose their job and be imprisoned will gain, wait for it....................your card number and expiration date, and...your home address. Err...think the devious sods might have clocked my card details after I handed over my card to pay my bill, oh and didn't I write my home address on the hotel registration card, and actually now come to think about it, sure they photocopied or at least clocked my passport details too.

Still at least this is correct

"If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several

times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything

on the card. "

Just make sure that the magnet you are carrying does not get anywhere near your credit cards because the coercivity (magnetic strength)of the magnet required to wipe a hotel key card is very bad news for any credit cards you may have.

Methinks the cure is worse than the disease.

[caf]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info.

Please do your research before posting this kind of nonsense.

What a really helpful post.!!!

Some advice to you: If you have nothing to say, don't post

If you have something valid to impart then we would all love to hear it

[jackr]

This is an urban myth which started from a guy getting arrested a while back in the States with loads of hotel key cards on him. There was lots of personal info on them but it wasn't from the hotel; he put it there as a form of discreet carrier.

They're heavily encoded and trying to access the info with another scanner wil just reveal strings of unintelligible data of your check-in, out times.

The only thing this 'pretty good info' is good for is clogging up the internet and email protocols - SPAM!

[stevenl]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info.

Please do your research before posting this kind of nonsense.

What a really helpful post.!!!

Some advice to you: If you have nothing to say, don't post

If you have something valid to impart then we would all love to hear it

Well, since this is an urban myth, he is right: do research before posting this nonsense.

[Razzler1973]

Can't go believing what 60 minutes say, they're a joke.

Not like them to be sensationalist, eh "DESTROY THE CARD"!!

[Texpat]

I've sanded off my fingerprints and hologrammed my face -- just in case.

If you think the cardkey is the only place the hotel stores your personal information, you're sadly mistaken.

Any rogue employee can access your info on the hotel's computer.

If it's a KSR backpacker hotel without a computer, the liklihood of them having cardkeys is remote.

[alant]

this is so old.. it went round the uk years ago and was corrected as miss information way back then. there are undoubtedly fr worse identitiy scams out there!

[cdnvic]

Absolute rubbish. A quick Google search would have told you so.

I really wish people would check facts before posting this stuff

Edited July 8, 2009 by cdnvic

[johnsonspot]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info.

Please do your research before posting this kind of nonsense.

What a really helpful post.!!!

Some advice to you: If you have nothing to say, don't post

If you have something valid to impart then we would all love to hear it

Now we're just waiting for you to deliver the same message to the OP.

[scorecard]

Over the For the last 10 years I stayed in 4 to 5 hotels a month.

I always took the key cards with me when I checked out, and then destroyed them.

Regardless of hotel policy, I just don't trust. You can never convince me that all hotel employees are honest, just the same as you can't trust all people in any type of situation, business related or not.

Why am I so negative about this? Because I've had my credit card numbers stolen several times (not sure you stole the numbers of course) causing enormous problems, including cards being quickly suspended and then cannot check-out of hotel until get some other finance arrangement in place and accepted by the hotel.

On a different point, I would never trust hotels about room security. Too many people have 'master' entry cards.

And there seems to be more and more hotels which will not allow you to switch on the 'DO NOT DISTURB' whilst you are out of the room. I like to use this when I have important papers open on the desk etc., and want to go to the coffee shop for a quick meal. Now I take it all with me.

There have been many cases of hotel safes being opened by other than the guests.

A work colleague had a lap top computer and personal papers stolen from a hotel safe in her room.

I never leave my passsport, tickets etc., in hotel safes.

When servicing your room (and your pobbaly away from the hotel) some hotels have a policy that the maids cart must be positioned across the open doorway, which provides some security, but there are also many hotels which are not serious at all about this - your door is left open, maid goes to get something from the stock room etc., and your room is open to anybody.

And the 'flip over' bolt is not as safe as it seems. I was staying in a hotel in Karachi in Pakistan and I didn't quickly acknowledge the early morning call. Security staff were at my door very quickly, used a key to open the door as far as possible, then put a piece of equipment through the opening to flip the horseshoe shaped flip over open.

[taxin]

USEFUL INFO REGARDING HOTEL KEY CARDS

This is pretty good info. Never even thought about key cards containing

anything other than an access code for the room!

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

Answer:

a. Customer's name

B. Customer's partial home address

c. Hotel room number

d. Check-in date and out dates

e. 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 hand full 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 reissues 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.

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 into the front desk when you check out of a room.

They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal....maybe NOT in Thailand) 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!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several

times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything

on the card.

Information courtesy of: Metropolitan Police Service.

Anyone who destroys a hotel key card should be reported to the police for damaging hotel property.

In fact, anyone who believes this rubbish should really stay at home and never stay in a hotel room, and if you do insist on going on holiday maybe consider sleeping outside on the beach !

[saintofsilence]

There is no way I would destroy the card especially when the hotel has your credit card details I am sure they would charge you for non return.

[craigt3365]

wow...some pretty crazy replies. God bless internet forums.

I have stayed in hotels probably close to 4,000 times. Traveled almost full time for 25 years (100% full time for 10 years). Had well over a million points each with Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn, etc....I would hate to guess at the number of cards I did not return...and was NEVER charged for one.

The City of Pasadena issued a statement 2 years ago after an email (similar to the OP's) was passed around on the internet. They researched it and found no data on cards. But, they only looked at US based cards. Snopes has a good article about this also...again US based...and saying you should not worry.

Here is another response I found:

"If Peter Wallace’s recent experience with hotel access cards is an indicator, leaving your electronic hotel room key behind when you check out could leave you open to identity theft.

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."

This guy appears to confirm what the OP has stated...

Here is another from a manufacturer of card readers:

"the answer is yes and no. Not all cards will contain personal data. However some cards may contain personal data. This depends on what the hotels system has been designed to do. In the normal course there is no reason to have any extraneous data in the stripe but the room nos. However for the sake of convenience some systems simply copy the credit card data on the keycard stripe and then the sytem is designed to link up the room nos. this is a bad practise and is a risky propsition and it exposes secret data and the key card when returned can be misused. It is hence safe not to return key cards to the front desk on check out.that way there is no chance of data being compromised.

I am a hotel key cards manufacturer and hence can say this with authority."

That comment alone warrants being careful. I am sure in the USA or Europe you are OK...but God knows what hotels in other parts of the world do. Not worth the risk...IMHO

Edited July 8, 2009 by craigt3365

[cdnvic]

However for the sake of convenience some systems simply copy the credit card data on the keycard stripe and then the sytem is designed to link up the room nos

I challenge anyone to come up with any real evidence of this happening.

[basjke]

I also destroy my credit card and passport after every single use because otherwise the info will be misused by the business where I used it.

[junki3korean]

Not true.....have been an employee at the hilton before and there Key card systems are made by a company called Vingcard which only generate room numbers with check in check out dates....

Never herad or needed to punch guest details....why the hel_l would you need too???

FALSE STATEMENT!

[jackspratt]

It's nonsense.

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

[denissr]

Anyone care to check this out on Snopes.com, they say it is FALSE.

[syd barrett]

To be on the safe side, run a strong magnet against the strip before handing the key-card in to reception at check-out.

[cdnvic]

To be on the safe side, run a strong magnet against the strip before handing the key-card in to reception at check-out.

If you're that paranoid about your credit card info that you start carrying magnets to protect you from imaginary dangers, just pay cash.

[truthfulfox]

To be on the safe side, run a strong magnet against the strip before handing the key-card in to reception at check-out.

If you're that paranoid about your credit card info that you start carrying magnets to protect you from imaginary dangers, just pay cash.

in general, you have to be careful using credit cards in thailand . I asked many chinese and japanese why you use cash money while travelling in thailand . the answer was : our travel agencies warn as to do so .because when our people back home from thailand they get credit cards bills with expenditures they never had , and even our banks ask us to use the credit cards for emergencies only and ask us as well to have an international mobile phone if any purshase done you will get an sms within 5 minuts.