Ever wonder what is on your magnetic hotel key card?

[boybi]

got this from email:

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic hotel 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 re-issues 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. But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually
is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

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 in to the front desk when you check out of a room.

They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) 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! You can also use a small magnet and pass
it across the magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door,
if it does not work it erases everything on the card.

Information courtesy of: Pasadena Police Department

PLEASE FORWARD to friends and family.

-----------------------

totoo kaya ito?

[Chip]

from a tech perspective malabo yan

it would be much easier to just store a unique ID on the card and all customer information that is assigned to that unique ID on the database. much like a credit card, all thats in there is the card id and some countermeasures to make sure its the real card. all customer info is stored by the database of the credit card company-kaya pag offline, you cannot use it.

[Camgen6]

I find this hard to believe kung personal info nga ang nasa card key (I won't debate on this since I have no clue kung totoo nga o hindi) but I think the only info that goes in the card is the code that can unlock your assigned hotel room. If in doubt, take the card with you, it will expire once your check out time comes.

[boybi]

tinatago ko naman mga keycards for souvenir so it's not a problem for me.

[empy]

hoax yan. it will be a legal and regulatory nightmare for hotels that do that in the states. hotels in other countries? wala na akong alam diyan.

[theveed]

Pointless paranoia...

Like as if people don't leave behind personal info everytime your mail is left in your mailbox, sign a credit card, hand out a business card, etc....

Why do people always think they're that special and others will look up their details specifically...

Isn't that what friendster/multiply sites are for? hehe

[empy]

ayan, kinuha ko na sa snopes for your convenience

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

[Jun aka Pekto]

Pointless paranoia...

Like as if people don't leave behind personal info everytime your mail is left in your mailbox, sign a credit card, hand out a business card, etc....

Why do people always think they're that special and others will look up their details specifically...

Our mailbox is on a central container on the block with locked compartments corresponding to each house on the block. Each homeowner is given the keys for their mailbox by the Homeowner's Association. When someone moves, the lock is changed and the new keys given to the newcomer. If there's a big package, the mailman delivers it personally. If no one's home, the package goes back to the Post Office where it can be claimed later.

Identity theft is a very real problem here. Social Security numbers, birthdays, license plate numbers, credit card numbers, telephone numbers, even house addresses........ All are fair game and can be pieced together by a resourceful thief.

You betcha that's not my real birth date here in tsikot.com. I already forgot what it is I put in . But it's definitely not my real birth date.

[Zeus]

tinatago ko naman mga keycards for souvenir so it's not a problem for me.

tinatago ko rin for souvenirs

[gearspeed]

Hindi ko alam yan ah na pwede mo palang kunin at gawin souvenir ang key cards.

[JohnM]

Possible but what for? A hotel employee can always call up a guest's info given a room number anytime. What's the point of encoding the guest's info on the card itself? In case their guest info database blows up?

[ghosthunter]

got this from email:

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic hotel 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 re-issues 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. But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually
is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

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 in to the front desk when you check out of a room.

They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) 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! You can also use a small magnet and pass
it across the magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door,
if it does not work it erases everything on the card.

Information courtesy of: Pasadena Police Department

PLEASE FORWARD to friends and family.

-----------------------

totoo kaya ito?

Myth... magnetic key cards only contain a certain serial number (in duplicate in case if one side fails) which is checked against the hotel's computer records if its valid or invalid. It does not contain any other information than that.

[Alpha_One]

It would actually be pointless to put all that info on the keycard.

[mazdamazda]

I'll bet you that this email came from the manufacturer of these key cards. :rofl01:

[GerardTagayty]

I'll bet you that this email came from the manufacturer of these key cards. :rofl01:

i agree... so people would keep taking home these cards then inturn the hotel would buy more and more of these key cards...

[Jun aka Pekto]

Some may wonder why I talk about identity theft and have my ugly mugshot for everyone to see......

Add: Never mind. Time to rotate avatars and signatures again

[GasJunkie]

That is why license plate should be illegal too. :spider:





:rofl01:

[uls]

Identity theft problema sa states.

Ibang klase naman dito sa Pinas... no identity. May mga tao wala man lang birth certificate hehe

[GasJunkie]

Receptionist must have been thinking, I heard of underdeveloped countries but this is ridiculous.





:rofl01:

[oldblue]

that's blogging with evidence *gasjunkie. it's the in thing right now hehehe.