Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

MODERN FRONT OFFICE ISSUES AND TACTICS
Identity Theft and the Front Office
Identity theft is
a crime that is affecting more and more people as it becomes easier for
criminals to access information that allows them to fraudulently use payment cards,
obtain cash withdrawals from bank accounts, and incur debt payable by the victim. Trained
front office personnel can help protect their guests from becoming victims of identity theft
by following some basic security precautions.
Front office employees must be properly trained about what they should and should not
do. For example, the FOM should ensure that only a minimum number of authorized hotel per-
sonnel have access to guest data and that these data are not accessible to others. The room num-
bers assigned to guests should not be publicly announced, and phone calls to guestrooms should
not be placed without the caller identifying the name of the guest to whom he or she wishes to
speak. For example, the caller saying, “Please connect me to room 313” should be asked, “May
I please ask to whom you wish to speak?”. Staff members should not provide a room number if
asked by a caller or someone who approaches the front desk for this information.
A common hotel practice raises concerns about identity theft: Many properties slide
guest folios under the guestroom doors early in the morning of the day of departure.
Although this is convenient to guests, folios may be placed under the door of the wrong
room, or edges of the paper or envelope may be visible from the hallway and enable the doc-
ument to be removed. If this occurs, potentially sensitive information such a guest’s pay-
ment card number or home address might be accessed by others. (Only the last four digits
of the guest’s credit card number should be imprinted on this or any other document.)
If FOMs retain the services of third parties to audit reservation telephone calls for qual-
ity and training purposes, these contractors or their employees will have access to sensitive
personal information such as credit card numbers. Contractual language is essential to limit
this information to hotel use only.
Criminals act creatively to obtain information that may affect the financial well-being
of guests. FOMs must take precautions so that they and their staff consistently do every-
thing possible to protect their guests, even after they depart from the property.
Adapted from Barber, D. 2004. How to safeguard your guests from being the next identity theft
victims. Retrieved February, 2004, from http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2004_1st/
Feb04_IdentityTheft.html.
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