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Millions at risk of ID theft following hotel hack

An online breach of the world's largest hotel chain has left millions at risk of ID theft-related fraud and other crimes.

Up to eight million people are said to be at risk following the startling revelations that a hacker broke into the IT system of Best Western Hotel Group and stole personal details of all the establishment's guests from the past 12 months.

According to an investigation by the Sunday Herald, a previously unknown hacker is responsible for the heist carried out at the hotel's central database, which contained details of home addresses, phone numbers, places of employment and credit card information.

"There are plenty of hacked company databases for sale online but the sheer volume and quality of the information that's been stolen in the Best Western raid makes this particularly rare," online security expert Jacques Erasmus, an ex-hacker told the Mail.

The information is reportedly already on sale by the Russian Mafia.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo also recently admitted to falling victim to a similar hack, which left its customers under threat of ID theft.

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