"Virus Hoaxes"
Virus Hoax Warnings: Page 78 of 81
Hotel Key Card Warning October 2003 This rumor started with a real investigation but the key card information got spread around out of context. The following letter from the Adjutant to the Chief of Police of the Pasadena Police Department puts it back into context. The result; Don't worry about it. The following information is in response to numerous inquiries about an e-mail that was distributed regarding hotel card keys and personal information. Please take note and feel free to share with any constituents who may also have concerns. On October 6, 2003, Detective Sergeant Kathryn Jorge of the Pasadena Police Department received information from a group of Southern California fraud detectives who had formed a fraud investigations network through a local internet carrier. One of the members of this group from another San Gabriel Valley agency reported that in an investigation that he was personally involved in, he came across a plastic hotel card key from a major hotel that had personal information that could potentially lead to identify theft and fraud. This information included names, addresses, length of stay, and credit card numbers. This detective took the precautionary measure of notifying the detectives in the network prior to seeing if this practice was standard in the industry. As the investigation into this potential fraud risk continued, this information was shared with other members of the Pasadena Police Department and personnel chose to share this information with others before we could correctly evaluate the risk. This has caused a chain reaction of probably thousands of people being given this information before the risk was evaluated thoroughly. As of today, detectives have contacted several large hotels and computer companies using plastic card key technology and they assure us that personal information, especially credit card information, is not included on their key cards. The one incident referred to appears to be several years old, and with today's newer technology, it would appear that no hotels engage in the practice of storing personal information on key cards. Please share this information with anyone who has a concern over the initial information send out to others as a precautionary measure. There was never the intent of the Pasadena Police Department to forward this information to others before the risk was evaluated. The information was forwarded by individuals as a possible precautionary note of interest only. Janet A. Pope Adjutant to the Chief of Police/Public Information Official Pasadena Police Department 626.744.4537 And now the rumor. ALL Check the below out...food for thought! USMS POC: Operations Support Division (202-xxx-xxxx) Courtesy of the Pasadena PD and the U.S. Mint: "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 through-out 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: a.. Customer's (your) name b.. Customer's partial home address c.. Hotel room number d.. Check in date and check out date e.. Customer's (your) 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 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 to the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card. Information courtesy of: Sergeant K. Jorge, Detective Sergeant, Pasadena Police Department
Copyright 2004 by Jay Jennings
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