Beware of your Hotel Room Key!! - Security

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 Doubletree chain that was being used for a regional identity theft presentation was found to contain the following information:

- Customer's name
- Customer's partial home address
- Hotel room number
- Check-in date and check-out date
- Hotel room number
- Customer's credit card number and expiration date

When you turn your key 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, download the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase these cards until an employee issues the card to the next hotel guest. It is usually kept in a drawer at the front desk with your information on it.

The bottom line is, keep the cards or destroy them. Never leave them behind and never turn them in the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card.

Pass this along to all your friends and customers who travel.