Travel Safety Tips Part 4

You’ve made it home safely after braving gastronomic adventures at greasy spoons, drinking from questionable water sources, and surviving white-knuckled taxi rides. Now, post those vacation pictures on social media and wrap up the loose ends of protecting your identity.

Monitor Your Accounts: Shortly after you return from your travels, pay special attention to your account statements to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary appears. If a credit card number or bank account number was stolen during your trip, this is how you will catch it early and keep it from becoming a major nightmare. Contact your provider and alert them to the breach immediately.

Get a credit report: Hopefully you’ve monitored your accounts throughout the trip. When you get home, request a report at www.annualcreditreport.com. Check your credit report for any suspicious activity. Even if you don’t see any unfamiliar transactions, that still doesn’t mean you’re safe.Identity thieves are known to take their time and act when you least expect it, so continue monitoring!

Rotate Your Account Numbers: If you feel like your identity might have been compromised (e.g., your credit card number stolen), call your financial institution and have them issue a new card. This makes the old number obsolete, should anyone try to use it in the future. Also, turn off your dedicated travel ATM/debit card.

If you have used your international data plan, be sure to turn it off.

Pick Up the Mail: Don’t leave it in anyone else’s hands any longer than necessary. Make sure you shred any mail that you no longer need.

(Click here if you missed the first three posts: “Planning Your Trip”, “Before you go” or “On the Road”.)

I know this may seem like a LOT to do, but the peace of mind you will have knowing you’ve done all you can to protect yourself will make your vacation just that much more enjoyable. Happy trails!

John Sileo is an an award-winning author and keynote speaker on identity theft, internet privacy, fraud training & technology defense. John specializes in making security entertaining, so that it works. John is CEO of The Sileo Group, whose clients include the Pentagon, Visa, Homeland Security & Pfizer. John’s body of work includes appearances on 60 Minutes, Rachael Ray, Anderson Cooper & Fox Business. Contact him directly on 800.258.8076.

Posted by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo in Identity Theft Prevention and tagged John Sileo, Sileo, Travel Safety.