Hotel Rooms and Identity Theft
Leaving Your Key Card Behind May Lead to Identity Theft
You’re enjoying yourself at your favorite resort and it’s time to checkout. Rather than take your key card with you, you leave it behind. No harm, no foul right? Wrong! Believe it or not, something as simple as leaving your hotel room key card behind may very well lead to identity theft.
What’s the Big Deal?
Okay, you know that little magnetic strip on the back of the key card you get at some hotels? Believe it or not, that little strip doesn’t just contain access information to your hotel room. Many hotels put the name, address and credit card information of guests on those little magnetic strips, leaving you highly vulnerable to identity theft if you leave that card behind.
How Does a Criminal Read It?
But a criminal can’t read the information that’s stored on a magnetic strip, right? Wrong! With a card reader that costs less than $40, a criminal can have the information that’s on that card dropped neatly into an Excel spreadsheet for them.
If you don’t want to be the victim of identity theft, make sure you don’t leave that little key card in a place where it can fall into the wrong hands.