Hotels.com Credit Card Info Stolen
Jackie Binion | 7 June 2006 |
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It seems as though there have been quite a few stories on the news lately about personal information being stolen in one way or another. This story hits a little too close to home for the lodging and hospitality industry, and poses some potential threats to online travel businesses.
An audit employee of Ernst & Young was the victim of a random burglary back in February. The thief broke-in to his locked car and took a password protected laptop which contained the credit card information for about 243,000 Hotels.com customers. Transactions recorded on the laptop were primarily from 2004, though there were some transactions from 2003 and 2002.
Over the past week, both Hotels.com and Ernst & Young mailed letters to those possibly affected, urging them to take appropriate action to protect their personal information. There has also been no indication that the data has been accessed or misused in any way.
From our perspective, this could mean a few things for the hospitality industry. Expect your phone to ring just a little more until this all settles down; consumers may put a little more faith in a phone call than engaging in online business to book a hotel room. Also, expect questions as to the security of your information and what you do to protect yourself and your business. Another possible impact is a potential influx of fraudulent companies looking to help protect individuals’ identities. Make sure you do your homework before signing up with any company offering these types of services.
Jackie Binion - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.
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