Avoiding Identity Theft When Traveling

Whenever you travel, whether for business or pleasure, your identity travels with you. That's why you want to make sure that you protect it at all times and that when you arrive home your identity also arrives intact. But easier said than done.

Identity theft is a universal crime, and almost every nation has its own set of traps and techniques for depriving travelers of their identity. And one of the reasons your identity is increasingly vulnerable when traveling is that you're probably busier and more distracted than usual — hurrying to catch a plane or train, trying to make a meeting, or figuring out your bar tab in a foreign currency.

Identity thieves know and recognize these opportunities and won't waste a moment in exploiting them. So how are you most likely to lose or at least hurt your identity when traveling?

Laptops

Your laptop is like a universal currency. Thieves in every part of the nation and around the world recognize a laptop for both its value as a product and for the value of the data on it. Laptop theft is now at epidemic levels and organized gangs even offer bounties based on the type of laptop stolen and the amount of information on it. A few years ago Chinese intelligence agents were accused of infiltrating a high tech conference in the U.S. with instructions to steal the laptops of specific CEOs known to be working on breakthrough technologies.

Hotels

There have been numerous reports of employees at hotels colluding with each other or with organized crime gangs to steal the identities of guests. The techniques range from stealing the credit card information you use to book your room, to staff providing master keys for thieves to access your room when you're not there. In one case, staff, managers, and even the owners of a chain of motels were accused of working together to steal millions of dollars from their guests, simply by copying customer credit card numbers and selling them to others.

An increasingly common scam is the call from reception informing you that there's a problem with your credit card and requesting confirmation of the card number. The call usually comes from the hotel reception which is enough to convince most guests that the call is genuine. But it's a simple scam. The thief simply calls the hotel and asks for a random room number. When the call is passed through to the guest room it appears to be coming from the hotel.

Airports

Identity theft scams abound at airports for a few obvious reasons. There are thousands of people at any airport at any one time, many of them travelers with laptops and luggage. And chaos usually reigns, making travelers more hurried and hassled, and less cautious and aware.

Common identity thefts at airports include the theft of luggage, the theft of a laptop when the owner is not looking, travelers leaving their laptop at a terminal, a bar, or a bathroom, pickpockets, thieves pretending to be luggage attendants or assistants, and high tech thieves eavesdropping on your laptop's wireless network.

Pickpockets

Pickpockets are everywhere but are especially common wherever there are travelers, including airports, hotels, tourist destinations, and popular vacation spots. They know that people drop their guard when they're traveling, either because they're in too much of a hurry, or have wound down into vacation mode and are thinking of everything else but personal security. And pickpockets know that credit cards and personal identifying information in your wallet or purse is of far greater value than any cash. A single successful theft by a pickpocket can generate thousands of dollars in a matter of hours, as the thief goes on a well planned spending spree before you even know your credit cards are gone.

Burglars at Home

When the homeowner's away the burglars will play. You may not realize it but when you leave your home for an extended period you may also be leaving plenty of vacancy signs for burglars. Mail left uncollected in your hallway, newspapers left uncollected on your driveway, and no sign of life in your home day or night are instant alerts for burglars who have a sharpened sense for these kinds of signs.

What Can You Do To Protect Yourself?

• Guard your laptop. Ideally carry it in something other than a tell-tale laptop case, so you're not advertising it to thieves. Keep it with you at all times, don't leave it down, even for a moment, at an airport or in a taxi.
• Consider installing laptop recovery software that can help track down a stolen or lost laptop. Avoid storing any personal and confidential information on your laptop, and especially financial information and passwords.
• If you have to store sensitive information on your laptop, make sure it's encrypted. Encryption software locks your data so a thief can't access it without the code. Good encryption software can cost less than $50 and some of the best is free.
• Keep your luggage with you at all times, and keep your laptop and other valuable personal items with you too.
• Make photocopies of everything in your wallet or purse, especially credit cards, ATM cards, store cards, and your driver's license. This will make it easier to remember what you have to cancel if your wallet is stolen.
• Keep credit cards to a minimum when you travel, and bring only one credit card if you can, ideally with the lowest spending limit possible.
• When staying at a hotel, bring your own luggage up to your room and don't leave it unattended in the lobby. If you get a call from reception about any credit card or financial issue, hang up and go down to the reception. Keep as little personal information in your room as possible, or keep it in the safe. And when you get home, check your credit card statements for any unusual charges or activities.
• Be wary of last minute changes. If you get a call from your airline or travel agent telling you there's an issue with a credit card, payment, or schedule, and they ask you to confirm any personal information, offer to call them back on the number you have on record for them.
• Carry traveler’s checks or even cash, and when paying a restaurant bill, use cash. A dishonest waiter can easily make a copy of your credit card and make it a much more expensive meal than you expected.
• Avoid using ATMs in foreign countries. Apart from the risk of high hidden fees, you may be exposing your card and PIN to thieves in a country that provides little recourse for victims or tourists.
• Try not to bring personal financial information with you, like bank or credit card statements. You might plan to use some down time to catch up on your finances, but it's not worth the risk.
• Be careful using free or even paid wi-fi services at airports, coffee shops or other public places. Most of these networks are unprotected and make it very easy for hackers to eavesdrop on your laptop. Especially if you're using it to access an online bank account or pay a bill.