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A criminal hacker group has obtained the personal data of tens of thousands of vacationers from Italian hotels through the identification documents that guests must provide during registration.
The group, called Mydocs, has been offering approximately 70,000 documents for sale on the internet for several days, according to police. High-end hotels in cities such as Venice and Trieste, as well as on the island of Capri, have been affected. Documents were also reportedly stolen from a luxury hotel on the Spanish island of Majorca.
According to Italian police, the hackers had been illegally accessing the booking systems of various hotels since June. This allowed them to obtain high-resolution scans of passports, ID cards, and other identity documents collected from holidaymakers and business travelers at reception. The Italian State Agency for Digital Italy (Agid) reports that these documents are now being offered for sale in pixelated form on the darknet at prices ranging from 800 to 10,000 euros.
Hotels use automated digitization systems
According to a report in the daily newspaper “Corriere del Veneto,” the four-star hotel “Ca’ dei Conti” in Venice is among those affected by the data theft. At that location alone, 38,000 documents were reportedly accessed. In Italy, guests must register at hotels with identification documents, which are typically copied at reception. Many hotels now use computer systems for automated digitization of these documents.
Police confirmed that the hackers also obtained data from foreign hotel guests, though authorities did not specify the nationalities of those affected.
dpa
