Internet shock for hotelier Blackpool, England
A Blackpool hotelier has issued a warning about the dangers of providing free internet access after two guests used his account to send offensive emails.
David Hemsley of The Fairway Hotel, Hall Road, found out about the abuse when he was contacted by a potential customer who had emailed him with a booking enquiry.
Instead of a standard reply from The Fairway the customer received an email that began "Hello stupid".
A second email said: "Grow up yer daft ****."
Mr Hemsley said: "The customer contacted me and told me what had happened. She was really upset."
Mr Hemsley has his suspicions about who sent the emails.
Instead of a standard reply from The Fairway the customer received an email that began “Hello stupid”.
"I'd had some lads in who were firing BB guns from the window at girls outside. They left their rooms in a terrible mess."
"I had to charge them extra because we had to spend four hours cleaning up the room."
Mr Hemsley said he started providing free wireless internet access and a laptop in the lounge thinking that this was a helpful service for guests.
But his computer had remembered the password on his email account, allowing anyone to access it.
Michele Mcdonald-Briggs, from Manchester, was on the receiving end of the rogue emails.
"I was shocked and disgusted," she said. "I feel sorry for Mr Hemsley but he should take more care about security."
Peter Greenall, lecturer in computer science at Blackpool and Fylde College, said wireless internet connections were particularly vulnerable and warned businesses to be vigilant about security.
He said: "The simplest advice is to read everything that comes up on screen to make sure that your information and passwords aren't being remembered.
"This is just as important for guests using the hotels as for the owners.
"Any computers with multiple users are targets - so never put in bank details.
"They might be easy to access for other users."