Before you leave for your vacation, you pack sunscreen and bug protection. But do you also take care of these things?
Most people jot down a packing list so they don’t forget anything before they leave for vacation. Your list probably includes clothing, toiletries, sunscreen, and bug protection, a phone charger, and perhaps your laptop.
If that is all you included, you forgot to take care of something very important: you forgot to protect yourself from identity theft.
Do you know how to begin this task?
Before you leave home…
- Remove non-essential items from your wallet. Take only the ID, credit, and debit cards you need. Never travel with your Social Security card.
- Secure your devices with passwords. Make sure you have strong passcode locks on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Use data encryption.
- Verify your financial institution has your correct mobile phone number and email so they can contact you in case of suspicious activity.
- Set up 2-Step Verification, if you haven’t already.
- Contact your financial institution and credit card issuers and inform them of your travel plans.
- Temporarily stop mail through the USPS® if you’re on a trip longer than 3 days.
- Make copies of important documents and credit cards you’ll be taking with you and leave the copies with a trusted friend or relative.
- Set up a smartphone locator app, like Where’s My Droid or Find My iPhone®, so if your smartphone is lost or stolen, you can find it and block it from use.
While you’re away…
- Use ATMs at financial institutions instead of freestanding ones in high-traffic tourist areas, which are ripe for skimming—a method of collecting your information and PIN from your card. Cover the keypad with your hand while entering your PIN. Locate your bank’s ATM’s for added security.
- Lock up valuables, including sensitive documents, in the hotel safe when you’re out of the room.
- Use a travel wallet, which can be worn under your clothes, for additional safety.
- Turn off your geo-tagging feature on social media and avoid posting pictures until you get home. If you do post from vacation, don’t include details of where or how long you’re staying.
- Use your mobile banking app to monitor your account for suspicious activity.
- Clear browser histories and caches when you use public computers and don’t transmit sensitive information or conduct banking over unsecured (public) Wi-Fi.
When you return…
- Review account and credit card statements for irregularities.
- Take advantage of your free credit reports at annualcreditreport.com. Request one from each credit bureau at 4-month intervals so you can monitor for a full year.
Did you know that twenty-two percent of all travelers experience identity theft?
Take these steps to prevent becoming another victim while you travel!
Let the encouraging words in these near a river posts help you
soar like an eagle above life’s storms.
Yes, they had me fooled!
Can I repair my credit myself?
How can I improve my finances?
Oh, NO!!! My hair has thinned too much!
Enjoy BJ’s encouraging words
on near a river!