Category Archives: Crime

by | February 23, 2011 · 6:55 pm

Hotel Industry Property Risks: Central Florida Hospitality Industry Working With Law Enforcement To Train Employees To Avoid Acting On "Prank Calls" That Damage Property (Video)

Members of Central Florida’s hotel and hospitality industry said they have trained workers to watch out for these pranksters to avoid property damage.

“We’re glad the [Orange County] Sheriff’s Office has been keeping an eye on these and getting to hotel employees prior to anything happening anywhere,” said Brian Martin, communications director for Visit Orlando, formerly known as Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejj95mIBwU0&feature=player_embedded]

Deputies at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said a clerk at an International Drive-area hotel received an automated call from an unknown caller Feb. 9 saying to pull the fire alarm and activate fire sprinklers because of a blaze in the hotel.

Cpl. Marcus Camacho of the Sheriff’s Office said employees in both incidents immediately disconnected the call and didn’t heed the callers’ warnings — a positive sign the hotel industry is on to these pranksters.

For Central Florida, an area synonymous with tourism and hospitality, the pranks pose a particular danger to travelers, the hotel industry and local law-enforcement officers, who must be pulled from other duties to respond to the bogus incidents.

Similar pranksters in 2009 succeeded in tricking hotel employees and guests — including an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy — to trash hotel rooms, causing thousands of dollars in damage to hotel property and personal belongings.

The sheriff’s corporal has been following these incidents for several years and thinks many of them are possibly linked to a Canadian group called PrankNet or a copycat caller.

The group, also known as Prank University and PrankU, has gained notoriety across the country. Pranks the group orchestrates are often played live over a members-only Internet chat room and have led victims to destroy private property in an effort to save themselves from what they perceive as imminent danger.

For more:  http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-02-23/news/os-hotel-pranknet-calls-20110223_1_pranknet-hotel-room-gas-leak

2 Comments

Filed under Crime, Fire, Guest Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Tagged as , , ,

by | February 21, 2011 · 10:52 am

Hospitality Industry Internet Risks: Hotel Management Must Train Employees To "Check Security Software And Certifications On Websites" To Prevent Downloading Internet Viruses

“These Internet scammers are very sophisticated…They’ll send an e-mail that looks like eBay or PayPal, asking for your information. The attorney general speaks often about Internet safety, and he encourages consumers to check the security software and certifications on websites and never store their personal information there. We have an identity theft protection tool on our website, www.Ag.ky.gov…”

Every website you visit tags your computer with a tracking device called a “cookie.” Your every move online — e-mail, downloads, credit-card purchases — is stored on your own computer’s hard drive as a digital footprint, even though you religiously delete and empty your recycle bin.

(A woman) was digitally minding her own business and was accosted by a phony website phishing for her personal information — something all too common on the Internet. As technology insidiously pervades every aspect of life, personal privacy becomes more endangered and difficult to maintain. Erik Eckel, a managing partner at Louisville Geek and Berg’s computer service tech, called her problem “one of the biggest trends we’ve seen.

Users will click on a link on someone’s Facebook page, or travel to a site that’s infected and they receive a pop-up window saying, ‘You’re infected. You want to go ahead and license the software? Only $39.95.’ The pop-up won’t go away, people buy it and then an illegitimate user has their credit-card number.” And then there are hackers, like David Kernel, now serving a yearlong sentence at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky for invading Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account during the 2008 election and sharing her password and telephone number.

Even Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway was a victim of identity theft, weeks after announcing a special unit on cybercrime.

For more:  http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110222/FEATURES/302220033/With-latest-Web-perils-it-s-wise-to-be-paranoid?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFEATURES

Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Internet Risks: Hotel Management Must Train Employees To "Check Security Software And Certifications On Websites" To Prevent Downloading Internet Viruses

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Theft

Tagged as , , , ,

by | February 15, 2011 · 8:49 am

Hospitality Industry Data Security: Hotel And Restaurant Management Should Consider "Tokenization" For Credit Cards And Sensitive Data

“…tokenization is a data security model that generates surrogate values, called tokens, to replace sensitive data—credit card numbers, for example—in applications and database fields. The sensitive data is simultaneously encrypted and stored in a central data vault, where it can be unlocked only with proper authorization credentials...”

In 2011…expect to see many more mid-sized to large enterprises adopt tokenization more broadly to protect many other types of sensitive information, including electronic health records (EHR).

It does this by removing sensitive data from applications and databases, which has the added benefit of reducing scope for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) compliance audits.  Over the past couple of years, the tokenization data security model has taken its rightful place alongside data encryption, and it is well on its way to becoming a commonplace solution for credit card protection.

What’s more, a particular version of tokenization—Format Preserving Tokenization™—is equally adept at protecting personally identifiable information (PII) and electronic health records (EHR) to help organizations comply with data privacy laws like the EU Data Privacy Directive and HIPAA.

For more:  http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201107/6818/RSAC-2011-Data-Security-Wunderkind-Tokenization

2 Comments

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Privacy, Risk Management, Technology

Tagged as , , ,

by | February 10, 2011 · 10:40 am

Hotel Industry Risks: Sprinkler System Extinguishes Fire In A Tennessee Hotel Room Caused By Criminal "Meth Lab" Operation

“…Clarksville Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services responded to a fire alarm at the Value Place Inn… By the time emergency crews arrived, the sprinkler system had extinguished the fire…”

“The temperature in that room had to reach at least 155 degrees for the sprinkler system to come on,” Williams said. “We suspected that it was things used to cook meth.”

 

“…This is the second meth lab bust in a hotel in the past few months…”

A search of his room uncovered a burned bathtub, a one-gallon can of camp fuel and the burned remains of a plastic Coke bottle. There was also a strong odor of camp fuel coming from the room, Williams said. The man had second- and third-degree burns on his face, neck, chest and both arms, Williams said. The man was sedated and transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s burn unit. He man has not been identified, and his condition is unknown at this time.

The Drug Task Force was called in and blocked off an entire wing of the hotel. “We found what was left of a meth lab that caught fire, and it had also injured the subject that was in the room,” said Lt. Jesse Reynolds, director of the 19th Judicial District Drug Task Force. “We removed the evidence, and a cleanup crew was called out to pick up the components.”

For more:  http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20110210/NEWS01/102100309

Comments Off on Hotel Industry Risks: Sprinkler System Extinguishes Fire In A Tennessee Hotel Room Caused By Criminal "Meth Lab" Operation

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Injuries, Liability, Management And Ownership

Tagged as , , ,

by | February 7, 2011 · 7:29 pm

Hotel Industry Security Risks: Importance Of Security Cameras And Securely-Locked Doors Seen In Robbery And Assault Of Louisiana Hotel Guests

It’s believed the two men by-passed the front desk and slipped into the hotel through the back door as someone else was leaving. Security cameras show they went directly to the elevator and proceeded to the 6th floor.

The Sleep Inn Hotel in Kenner is where police say three guests were terrorized inside their 6th floor hotel room. Security cameras are posted in all public areas of the hotel.

That’s how detectives obtained pictures of the men they say robbed the victims at gunpoint and took off. “We know there was some property taken but we don’t have a whole lot of information about that right now,” says McInnis.

WGNO Reporter, Darian Trotter says, “The fact that there were other guests on the 6th floor, but no other robberies reported, leads investigators to believe the victims may have been targeted.”

Lt. McInnis says he showed the victims pictures from security cameras. “They said these are the two individuals who burst into the room carrying firearms and robbed us,” McInnis says. He says the victims had never seen the gunmen before, and therefore did not know their names or any information that might help police identify them.

For more:  http://www.neworleans.com/news/local-news/559140.html

Comments Off on Hotel Industry Security Risks: Importance Of Security Cameras And Securely-Locked Doors Seen In Robbery And Assault Of Louisiana Hotel Guests

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Theft

Tagged as , , , ,

by | January 24, 2011 · 7:43 am

Hospitality Industry Payment Systems Risk: Process, Controls & Instrumentation (PCI) Compliance In America Must Address "More Secure Methods Of Payment Authorization"

“…more incentives (should be) put in place to encourage more secure methods of payment authorization. One example of this is the “chip and PIN” system in use outside of the United States. In this system, credit cards use a tiny PIN-activated microchip that protects payment information...”

“As it stands, virtually every Western and Eastern nation have migrated to this (system)…which countries haven’t? Iran and the U.S.”

Data security also is going to be a major focus at this year’s Hospitality Law Conference.

Right now, liability is on the merchants’ side of things but not on the payment systems, and that has to change, said Cannon, who is counsel to the Merchants Payment Coalition.

“Right now, all liability runs downhill and at the bottom is the merchants’ coalition and, partially, the hospitality industry,” he said.

The federal government is reviewing the issue of data security liability and could potentially come up with a new way of assigning liability by 21 July of this year.

“In terms of the regulatory process, this is the speed of light,” Cannon said.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/4809/Hospitality-Law-event-to-examine-privacy-PR

Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Payment Systems Risk: Process, Controls & Instrumentation (PCI) Compliance In America Must Address "More Secure Methods Of Payment Authorization"

Filed under Conferences, Crime, Guest Issues, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

Tagged as , , ,

by | January 10, 2011 · 10:17 am

Hotel Industry Theft Risks: Hotel Management Must Make Valet Parking Areas Secure From Thieves Who Hide In Vehicles

Police said a casino surveillance video shows a man handing his Hummer over to the valet. The valet parked the Hummer in the casino’s secured lot without knowing there were three men hiding inside the vehicle. The men had access to all the cars parked in the lot, police said.

 Three Cadillac Escalades were stolen from a secured valet parking lot Saturday at Detroit’s MGM Casino Hotel, police said. The video shows the men stealing the Escalades.

When hotel customers asked the valet employees to retrieve their vehicles, the drivers were puzzled to find that the Escalades had disappeared from the parking lot. It may sound like a clever crime, but this same type of theft was acted out in an episode of the TV show “Las Vegas.” The episode was re-run last week. The men could have been copying the fictional thieves.

For more:  http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/26439694/detail.html#

Comments Off on Hotel Industry Theft Risks: Hotel Management Must Make Valet Parking Areas Secure From Thieves Who Hide In Vehicles

Filed under Crime, Insurance, Liability, Risk Management, Theft

Tagged as , ,

by | December 7, 2010 · 6:22 am

Hotel Industry Security Risks: Connecticut Hotel Pays Damages To Settle Civil Suit Brought By Woman Assaulted In Hotel Garage By A “Drifter” Who “Roamed The Garage For Hours”

The Tresser Boulevard hotel was accused of failing to prevent the 2006 assault in which a drifter roamed the garage for hours

Surveillance cameras in hotels.

before sexually assaulting a woman named in court papers as “Jane Doe.”

The victim claimed Fricker had been in the hotel and garage and acted suspiciously for days leading up to the sexual assault. The lawsuit alleged the hotel security staff failed to notice him or make him leave.

A woman raped at gunpoint in front of her children four years ago in the Stamford Marriott parking garage has settled a civil lawsuit filed against the hotel for an undisclosed amount of money.

Attorneys involved in the lawsuits would not comment about details in the case, which was withdrawn this September and resolved using a private alternative dispute resolution firm.

“It’s been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties and no further comment will be made,” said Donald Derrico, a lawyer representing the Stamford Marriott Hotel and Spa. The Tresser Boulevard hotel was accused of failing to prevent the 2006 assault in which a drifter roamed the garage for hours before sexually assaulting a woman named in court papers as “Jane Doe.”

Gary Fricker, a Danbury native and transient carpenter, was arrested three days after the October 2006 assault and was sentenced a year later to 20 years in prison. Wanted in Florida on arson charges, Fricker roamed the Marriott parking garage looking for victims before targeting a then-40-year-old mother, an arrest affidavit said.

One woman called police after the assault and said a man matching Fricker’s description was following her around the garage about an hour before the attack. A second woman reported her ATM card stolen from the garage that afternoon. Fricker tried to use it later that day, police said.

Authorities say Fricker put a gun to the back of the victim and forced her young children into their minivan, where he raped the woman after trying to rob her. He fled when the woman screamed and a car passed by. He was arrested in White Plains, N.Y., and immediately confessed to the attack.

The civil lawsuit was filed in March 2008, six month after Fricker was sentenced. The victim claimed Fricker had been in the hotel and garage and acted suspiciously for days leading up to the sexual assault. The lawsuit alleged the hotel security staff failed to notice him or make him leave.

The hotel had no security director or internal security policies at the time of the assault, according to a deposition in the case.

More than a year after the lawsuit was filed, controversy erupted over special defenses filed by lawyers hired by the Marriott that claimed the woman was careless, negligent and failed to “exercise due care” for her own safety and for the safety of her children. Attorneys said if the defense wasn’t raised they might have lost a chance to bring it up again in the future.

For more:  http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Settlement-reached-in-Marriott-rape-case-860707.php

Comments Off on Hotel Industry Security Risks: Connecticut Hotel Pays Damages To Settle Civil Suit Brought By Woman Assaulted In Hotel Garage By A “Drifter” Who “Roamed The Garage For Hours”

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | December 6, 2010 · 7:15 am

Hospitality Industry Credit Card Risks: Hotel Owners And Management Must Store “Credit Card And Guest Receipts” In Secure Locations To Prevent Identity Theft

“… (the defendents) found boxes of monthly credit card receipts from previous hotel guests. Box by box, they and others lifted them from the hotel, officials allege…”

The receipts, officials say, helped the men manufacture counterfeit credit cards in document “boiler rooms” and card “chop shops,” which they then used to buy $300,000 worth of merchandise in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

The merchandise, which included tow trailers, televisions, all-terrain vehicles and tires, then was resold or pawned.

The hotel didn’t learn of the thefts until August 2008, and since then, federal investigators have learned at least 17,000 receipts were stolen in what they say is San Antonio’s largest identity theft case.

Details had remained sketchy until the ringleader, Ruben “Hollywood” Costello, 36, recently pleaded guilty to ID theft fraud conspiracy, access device fraud, and conspiracy to launder money, and documents in the case were unsealed.

They identify Jones, 34, as his partner in the crimes and name him and Flaharty, 31, as two people who helped take the records from the Emily Morgan.

They also reveal Costello used a network of associates, methamphetamine addicts and others to maintain the scheme, and used an Elmendorf trucking company he ran, RD&N Hauling, to launder the money.

The cardholders never realized their credit card accounts had been compromised until months, even years, after they stayed at the hotel. But the damage made it hard for some of them to get loans and left lingering headaches in trying to straight things out, officials said.“When you look at these types of crimes, you may think the victim is the vendor or the credit card companies,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom McHugh said. “What we see is that the person whose identity is stolen, his problems may go on for years.”

For more:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Ringleader-pleads-in-S-A-s-largest-ID-theft-case-859510.php

Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Credit Card Risks: Hotel Owners And Management Must Store “Credit Card And Guest Receipts” In Secure Locations To Prevent Identity Theft

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Theft

Tagged as , , , ,

by | November 25, 2010 · 7:48 pm

Hotel Industry Cyber-Crime Risks: Hotels Are #1 Target For Credit Card Data Theft As Centralized Processing And Economic Downturn Delay Encryption Software Upgrades

 “Because of the downturn in the economy, a lot of industries have stopped upgrading their software,” he said. “So they’re very open for being hacked at any point.”
A recent study shows the hotel industry is especially open for being hacked.
 
“The main reason is they’re such a central hub for where people run their cards,” Jones said.

 
Recent studies show hackers steal credit card data from hotels more than any other industry. 

“It’s not if it’s going to happen, it’s when it’s going to happen,” said John Sileo, a Denver resident who had his credit card information stolen on a recent business trip. “The Driskill Hotel had an entire database of customer information stolen. Mine was one of them.”

“Because of the downturn in the economy, a lot of industries have stopped upgrading their software,” he said. “So they’re very open for being hacked at any point.”

A recent study shows the hotel industry is especially open for being hacked.

Ryan Jones, a data-security consultant with Trustwave, has been watching a steady increase in hotel hacking.

Trustwave found that out of all the hacking cases they investigated last year, 38 percent involved hotels, well ahead of financial services (banks) at 19 percent and retail at 14 percent.

Destination Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Englewood, is just one of the major chains that got hacked.

This summer, they told guests at 21 hotels across the country that their credit cards might be compromised.”Because of the downturn in the economy, a lot of industries have stopped upgrading their software,” he said. “So they’re very open for being hacked at any point.”

A recent study shows the hotel industry is especially open for being hacked.

Ryan Jones, a data-security consultant with Trustwave, has been watching a steady increase in hotel hacking.

“The main reason is they’re such a central hub for where people run their cards,” Jones said.

Trustwave found that out of all the hacking cases they investigated last year, 38 percent involved hotels, well ahead of financial services (banks) at 19 percent and retail at 14 percent.

Destination Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Englewood, is just one of the major chains that got hacked.

This summer, they told guests at 21 hotels across the country that their credit cards might be compromised.

For more:  http://www.thedenverchannel.com/money/25881609/detail.html

Comments Off on Hotel Industry Cyber-Crime Risks: Hotels Are #1 Target For Credit Card Data Theft As Centralized Processing And Economic Downturn Delay Encryption Software Upgrades

Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Theft

Tagged as , , ,