An inquiry is being conducted into a top British hotel after credit card details and signatures were dumped in a nearby trash container.According to media reports, the registration cards were found in an open skip outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

One fraud expert described the incident to the Guardian newspaper saying it was ” the biggest field day for identity fraudsters we have ever seen.”

The registration forms and credit card slips—including those of several Members of Parliament were found left in a skip.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) told the Press Association that the hotel may also have breached the Data Protection Act by wrongly disposing of the cards.

The cards, filled in by guests, also included addresses, telephone numbers and signatures.

The items caught the eye of a passer-by on Thursday night. This prompted an investigation and a subsequent apology by the De Vere Group., a public limited company who owns the hotel.

This is not the first time identity theft has hit the travel and tourism industry.

In December, Marriott International Inc., one of the world’s largest hotel companies, lost its   backup computer tapes at its time-share unit.

The tapes contained the data for 206,000 employees, timeshare owners and customers.

Marriott said its Vacation Club International unit was investigating how the tapes disappeared from its office in Orlando, Florida.

Personal information about customers and employees has also been stolen or was lost this year at Boeing Corporation.

The latest incident at the Grand Hotel raises the concern about identity theft.
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