As you prepare for your long-awaited, and probably well-deserved summer vacation, be aware that thieves are looking forward to your vacation, too. The New York Times recently did a story that highlighted a little known fact about credit card thefts – that hotels held the Number 1 spot for credit card hacking last year, more than twice the rate for financial institutions and retailers.

The story highlighted a troubling trend in the hotel industry that should have all hotel guests on their guard. Hotels are not only a hot target for hackers because of the wealth of credit card information that passes through their hands, experts believe that hotels are not investing enough in security technology and staff.

And of course that weakness creates an opportunity for hackers. Like the case in June of this year, covered by ABC news, where Destination Hotels and Resorts admitted that hackers had compromised their networks, and over a period of three months ran up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of charges on more than 700 guest credit cards.

Lessons learned?

• If you use a credit card to book a hotel stay, make sure it has the lowest limit you need.
• Create alerts with your credit card so you’re immediately notified of any charges and make sure you check your statement carefully – do it online if you can, and before waiting for your statement to arrive in the mail.

RELATED STORY: Credit Card Hackers Visit Hotels All Too Often

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Credit-Card-Hackers-Visit-nytimes-3300094848.html?x=0

Related posts:

1. Footprints to a College Graduate’s Credit Profile (Part II)
2. In the Headlines: Facebook “PLEASE SEND ME MONEY” Scams on the Rise
3. In the Headlines: 2010 a Bumper Year for Spam and Scams
4. Be Safe While Traveling