Summer's a great time for vacations and traveling, so I wanted to share a few tips on traveling and protecting your identity while on vacation.
Fun and Games
First of all, during the games in London, the potential for travel related scams could increase. watching the games on TV may inspire you to head on over the pond to catch the excitement live. Identity thieves may pose as trusted sources, so be skeptical of last minute, “deal of the century,” travel packages if you just follow their link. To help protect yourself, verify all offers by always opening a new browser window and typing in your trusted site's web address (URL), rather than following their link.
It's a Vacation, So Take a Vacation
Before departing on your vacation, consider taking a break from updating your status on Facebook and other social media. I know how exciting it is to go on vacation and share your plans. But consider posting your vacation updates once you're back home, so you can avoid announcing to all your Facebook friends, not to mention those looking over their shoulders, that your home is vacant.
Relax and Consider Leaving Electronic Devices Behind
Vacation means vacation. Right? So consider taking a vacation from your electronic devices and leaving them behind. If you absolutely must take them, avoid using free Wi-Fi connections. Free connections are not secure and can cause the data you are transmitting, data like account numbers, usernames, and passwords, to be left open for the identity thief to capture.
Hello Credit Card Company
Before heading on vacation, consider calling your credit card company to let them know where you are headed. In an attempt to protect you, sudden charges from an unusual location could cause your company to assume the card has been compromised and they may turn off access to the card. Not good when you want to charge a massage and spa treatment at your vacation resort.
Take Only What You Need
Take only the credit cards you need and leave all the rest of those retail credit cards safely and securely behind. You will have less to keep track of and fewer cards to cancel if your wallet does become lost or stolen.
Tagging Luggage
Whether traveling by plane, bus, or train, tag your luggage smartly. Do not put your home address on the tag in order to avoid directing thieves to your empty home. Instead, use your mobile phone number, so airport personnel can contact your quickly where you are.
To read more information on protecting yourself from scams and identity theft, see my previous posts about scams and identity theft.
With just a few sensible steps, you will be more able to relax and have fun while traveling this summer. And thanks to the good folks at LifeLock, who know about these things because they work diligently every hour of every day to assist their members in helping protect their identities, I will be traveling a little myself this summer: All the way to BlogHer'12 in New York thanks to their sponsorship. (Pst! Don't worry, I'm not leaving my house vacant.)
Pic by jasleen_kau
Disclosure: I’m a LifeLock Ambassador, this article is compensated. As always my comments and opinions are my own. Mama Latina Tips Information Purposes Legal Disclosure
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