HOTEL KEY CARDS

[HOGGY952]

HOTEL KEY CARDS
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.
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 into 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!
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.

 

[Blasphemous]

How do you check out though Hoggy? They ask for the card key.

 

[conny]

When you check out do they scan it to produce your bill?
If they do, after they have scanned it ask for it back for a second then rub it with a magnet or ask them to delete it while you wait.

If you don't have a magnet or they refuse to delete it snap it in half across the chip.

 

[HOGGY952]

How do you check out though Hoggy? They ask for the card key.

you just say you've lost it or even better just say a crow flew down and nicked it

 

[tim west]

You may find that the rfid card holds no more than a 12 digit number and the pc that connect to the reader accesses this number and a database somewhere brings up the relevant info, therefore without access to the database all you have is a meaningless number.

 

[Blasphemous]

You may find that the rfid card holds no more than a 12 digit number and the pc that connect to the reader accesses this number and a database somewhere brings up the relevant info, therefore without access to the database all you have is a meaningless number.

WHAT?!?!?! Surely the Metropolitan Police Service couldn't have got it wrong though Tim....? Hmmm, I know who I believe and it ain't the MPS!!

 

[LastMagicBean]

Apparently not true at all.........

When they scan your keycard it then gives access to the computer database which holds all your info.

The card itself has basic info........Room no., date and times the doorlock was used........

 

[HOGGY952]

Apparently not true at all.........

When they scan your keycard it then gives access to the computer database which holds all your info.

The card itself has basic info........Room no., date and times the doorlock was used........

so what happens to all that info on their database do they delete it after you have checked out?.

 

[Johnmelad502]

Cobblers

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

 

[LastMagicBean]

so what happens to all that info on their database do they delete it after you have checked out?.

Can't comment on that side of it at all............I simply don't know.

It's no different from you making an online purchase............You plug your details in, and who knows what happens to the info.

But as far as keycards go...........They don't hold the info.

 

[Steve]

Information courtesy of: Metropolitan Police Service.

Really? Link? Who gave you this info? Do YOU believe it?

If all this info can REALLY be stored on a magnetic stripe, why did the original debit and credit cards only contain the nessecary numeric info stamped into the card? They didnt even contain the cardholder name. (Chip n pin cards do IIRC) Hotel room cards are much less sophisticated than these. IIRC, credit and debit cards have 3 tracks, whereas basic cheap disposable cards will only have one, as the equipment used to write and read them can only accept one track.

And WHY would they keep all this info on the card? As someone said, the only info on the cards is the room number and duration of stay. When you check out, the computer brings up the room number, and then your name under that room. A simple database link.

And for those where you use the room card to purchase things in the hotel, in the restaurant for example, again, the EPOS will access the database and find out if you are allowed to charge to your room. The credit card number is in the database.

Hoggy, the info on the database is just like the info on any other database - it depends on the thoroughness of the users and how its used. I know for a fact that maplin have my visa details on their online database. They come up without me inputting them.

But most EPOS systems now will disguise most of the card number once its been inputted. Only older systems will show the full number.

 

[JohnD]

HOTEL KEY CARDS

you forgot to say "send this message to everyone you know"

sorry, these stories are just manually-spread mail viruses

 

[ColJack]

I recon that they ought to make hotels self service..

each room has a light above it to indicate whether it is vacant or not.
you swipe your credit card through the door to unlock a vacant room and then take the keycard from inside the door.
to use the room you use the keycard to enter.
When you are done with the room you put the keycard back into the holder inside the room and leave.
this then seals the room until the cleaners have been and swiped their card to say it's clean.

if you don't leave the door card then you keep getting charged for the room..

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

manually-spread male viruses

I don't fancy

 

[Nige F]

manually-spread male viruses

I don't fancy

You don`t get them in good hotels - only B+B Cottages