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  • Hotel Mishandling Delicate Docs

    Posted on April 6th, 2009 admin No comments

    Man says he found stacks of credit card info-

    An Indianapolis extended-stay hotel may be putting its customers at risk for identity theft. A customer at Homestead Studio Suites said he was throwing his trash away when he noticed stacks of documents in the hotel dumpster. A closer look revealed the documents contained personal information about customers who stayed there.

    24-Hour News 8 wanted to find out whether Homestead Studio Suites actually threw away sensitive documents in a regular trash bin. We found folders, files and loose papers in the dumpster that included customers’ names, home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Most troubling of all, we found complete credit card numbers, the kind of card used, and expiration dates.

    The documents appear to be from several years ago.

    A banker told 24-Hour News 8, even though the credit cards have expired, the documents should’ve still been shredded. Experts said the high-tech programs and equipment professional identity thieves use nowadays make it very easy for them to possibly become you.

    24-Hour News 8 tried to speak with a hotel manager about their document handling practices. The manager refused and referred us to the corporate offices. We did not mention the dumpster documents to the manager. But right after we left, she quickly walked out to the dumpster while talking on her cell phone.

    We called the corporate number several times and left messages asking for an explanation, but we did not get a call back. We tried to contact some of the customers listed on the documents, but we weren’t able to get in touch with them.

    (source: wishtv.com)