Tips For Keeping Your Identity
Safe While Traveling

Some timely tips for keeping your identity safe while you’re away from home. When planning for a much needed vacation, the last thing you want to think about is something going awry. From forgetting your phone charger to losing your wallet, you want nothing that will disrupt your focus of relaxing.

Staying on top of this issue is key when looking for a peaceful trip.

If you’re planning on a vacation, be sure to take every possible precaution to keep your identity safe. You may want to consider using Identity theft protection services, such as Lifelock, in addition to taking simple steps to reduce the possibility of being hacked. Your information will be monitored wherever you’re at traveling, keeping your information safe round the clock. Here are some tips for keeping your Identity safe while traveling:

Be Careful With Debit Cards

According to a recent article in Trivester News, financial institutions, waiters, and street vendors have been known to use devices called “skimmers,” which essentially will steal banking information after you make a purchase or withdraw money from an ATM. If your card passes through a skimmer- the thief essentially has your card information hostage. Just imagine going home and opening up a credit card bill that has thousands of dollars more than what you spent and realizing that you’re out spoonfuls of money before you were able to realize a problem in the first place. So when you’re traveling, be conscious of using debit cards. You may want to visit your bank and take out traveler’s checks, cash, or convert currency to native dollars.

No Facebook

We know Facebook has become a way of life for many of us and we can’t resist status updates- especially ones that brag about us being on a tropical vacation. But keep in mind that when you post on Facebook- it’s likely that more than just your friends are viewing it. And your Facebook account likely holds personal information that you wouldn’t want anyone taking advantage of- if they know that you’re out of town for a designated period of time and wouldn’t be able to tend to such matters promptly. Save the status updates and pictures for when you get home.

Plan Ahead

It’s a good idea to contact your bank and credit card companies to let them know about your travel plans. This way, if they see any activity that looks unusual, they’ll contact you promptly to see if it’s something of concern- doing this could help you catch a small problem before it becomes a big problem.

Easy On the Wi-Fi

You’re on vacation, so we advise that you leave the laptops and tablets at home. Not only because you want to be focused a hundred percent on soaking up sun, but because logging onto faulty wireless connections could compromise personal information. So we recommend that you stay away from the Internet, but if you just can’t “get off the grid” then it may be beneficial to update your password and privacy settings.

Tag Your Luggage

Finally, you’re going to want to tag your luggage properly so that items that get lost on the airlines can easily be tracked- always include your name and a contact number. Also, never place personal items such as wallets, cell phones, or travel documents into your checked luggage. Always place those belongings in your carry on bags- if they fall into the wrong hands- it could be a nightmare.

With such a concern on the rise, taking precautionary measures and educating yourself will only help to protect your information and your well-being. When you’re looking over at your sweetheart under the Eiffel Tower or on a Thai beach you don’t want to be thinking about ID theft.

These travel tips for keeping your identity safe are courtesy of John Scharff.

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