Entrance fee envelopes were stolen from Saguaro National Park, raising concerns that some credit card information might have been taken/Kurt Repanshek file
A small number of entrance fee envelopes were stolen from an "iron ranger" fee station at Saguaro National Park in Arizona, prompting park staff to suggest that anyone who paid with a credit card contact their card company.
The fee box at the Red Hills Visitor Center in the park's Tucson Mountain District was broken into sometime between the evening of October 29 and the next morning. It contained entrance fee envelopes that had been deposited by visitors between October 20 and October 29.
"Visitors who purchased an entrance pass through the honor station by credit card during these dates should be aware of the compromise of their credit card information and work with credit card companies to guard against fraud or unauthorized use of their information," the park staff said on its social media channels Monday.
"We take very seriously our role of safeguarding your personal information and using it in an appropriate manner. Saguaro National Park apologizes for the stress and worry this incident may cause and we are doing everything we can to rectify the situation."
Comments
How low can people go?
I was a rec tech early in my Forest Service career about 15 years ago and this would happen on a not infrequent basis. Our folks started welding homemade anti-theft devices to the iron rangers and then when thieves couldn't steal they started lighting empty envelopes on fire and dropping them in the slot so we couldn't get the money either.
A lot of people really suck.
Yes, some people can go pretty low, but I wonder why SAGU would not have emptied the box on a more regular basis? It's at the visitor center, not in some remote location. Rangers & admin would certainly be nearby if not walk directly past it daily.
That visitor center is manned and you pay fees inside. Didn't even realize there was an iron ranger.