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Showing posts with label gadgets safe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gadgets safe. Show all posts

Nov 16, 2015

How to Keep Your Money Safe While Traveling

How to Keep Your Money Safe While Traveling

Minimize your wallet before you leave
Before every vacation I go through my every day wallet and takeout only the essentials that I would need for the trip, and those go into my travel wallet. Don’t take a big, thick wallet with you, a slim version would do much better. You won’t need the majority of your cards or other items, so clean out your wallet and leave the excess at home. That way, if something does happen to your wallet, you have far fewer things to worry about replacing.

Take at least two credit/debit cards with you and never keep them both in the same place. The reason here is diversification. If one goes missing, you still have the one stashed elsewhere.
Same applies for other belongings. Spread them out across multiple pockets. If you get struck by a pickpocket while out wandering around, it’s a bad move to have all of your stuff in one place. Wear clothing with multiple pockets and spread your stuff out among the pockets.

Leave photocopies of your documents at home where someone you trust can retrieve them.
This way you can call home to retrieve your card number and other information so that you can then verify it with customer service or authorities and either restore or cancel your accounts.


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Alert your credit card companies of your travel so they won’t decline charges and can properly identify instances of identity theft. This has happened to me in the past where I tried to use a credit card on vacation and it was declined due to suspicion of identity theft as it was flagged as an irregular charge in a new location. If you contact them in advance, they’ll change the settings on your account so that new charges don’t trigger an identity theft decline.

Protect your digital info
While traveling, try to avoid checking your bank balance and login into other sensitive sites. If you do have to connect and you are out and about, make sure the connection is safe. Free and/or public WiFi is often not secure. To make sure your information is safe use private virtual network, such as Private Internet Access, that will encrypt all of your internet traffic and protect your identity.

Use a money belt. A money belt is simply a pouch with a strap that goes around your waist. This pouch is kept under your clothing so that it’s unexposed and thus essentially impossible for pickpockets to access. You can easily access it by stepping into a bathroom and accessing it in a stall. It’s a great place to keep your credit cards and such; I usually keep my credit cards in there and just have a tiny amount of cash in an easy-to-access pocket. That cash is exposed to a bit more risk than the cash and cards in my money belt, but then it’s really convenient when I’m walking around a marketplace or strolling through a park. You get used to wearing it quickly and it's not uncomfortable.


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Use an ATM locator to avoid bogus locations. Criminals will set up “fake” ATMs in order to scrape credit card and debit card numbers. They look just like real ATMs but simply won’t work once you’ve swiped your card and enter your PIN. That’s because the criminals already have your info, so there’s no reason to give you cash. How can you avoid that? Use the ATM locator program on your bank’s website to identify legitimate ATMs near you and stick with just those ATMs.
Only use ATMs inside of bank locations instead of sitting out in the open. Occasionally, criminals are able to modify ATMs and add “skimming” devices that allow the criminals to take your credit card or debit card number and PIN. This is much more likely to happen with standalone ATMs and much less likely inside of bank locations. So, if you’re in a new area, make the effort to use an ATM inside of a bank location if you need to withdraw cash.

Use a secure phone password and don’t store website passwords or credit card information on there. This is good advice anywhere, but it’s great advice when traveling. A smart criminal can figure out your password by studying the marks on the screen, so make your password as complex as reasonably possible while traveling. That way, they can’t get in quite as easily. More important than that, though, don’t keep important passwords or credit card information on your phone. If someone can buy stuff on your phone by just using the stored passwords, you’re begging for a problem if your phone is stolen.

Leave expensive gadgets at home unless absolutely necessary. You probably don’t need your laptop while traveling, so why take it? Will you really use that SLR camera, or will you likely just leave it in the hotel room each day? If you’re not going to use it, don’t take it. It just becomes another thing to keep track of and another thing that can potentially get stolen. Use minimal gadgets. I use just my smartphone when traveling for everything – no need to take a SLR for family vacation pictures!

Carry a dummy wallet. Pick up a cheap wallet, then put some of the “fake” credit cards that banks often mail you along with a few loose bills in there and keep it with you. It can prove to be a lifesaver when getting mugged, as you can pull out the fake wallet and hand it over to the mugger. It can also be a good pickpocket deterrent as they may just grab the fake wallet and leave you alone.

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Sound-off: What steps do you take when traveling to safeguard your valuables? Let us know below




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Jul 3, 2013

Top Ways to Keep Gadgets Safe While Traveling

Did you know?

There are 3-4 Macs that are left at airport every day.

Southwest Airlines has reported taking possession of up to 10,000 items a month that are left behind at airports and in planes.

McCarran airport in Las Vegas says about 30,000 items — an average of 82 a day — are left behind each year.

Many hotels see at least one item a day left behind by guests. Many see more. The Hyatt Regency in Chicago reports about 7,300 items a year, or about 20 a day, are left, according to Shaheryar Adil, a manager at the hotel.

More mobile phone chargers were left behind by guests than any other item
"If you are traveling and find yourself in need of a phone charger, definitely call down and ask housekeeping.
When we had our impromptu staycation in the city during the storm, we did just that. We asked the front desk of an iPhone charger, as both of ours were running low, and they were able to supply one to us at no charge.

Travelers left behind 8,016 devices between July 2011 and June 2012. Of those, 45 percent were laptops, 43 percent were smartphones or tablets and 12 percent were USB sticks.(Credent)

To avoid leaving your things behind while traveling, triple checking everything is key. Make a mental list of the most important things while packing, such as your e-reader, phone and MP3 player.
Rushing is the main reason customers leave things behind. Having a list might help ensure that gadgets are not left behind as you are ready to head out.

Best way to keep your gadgets with you is to keep them close. Even better is when they tell you if you are walking away from them. Devices such as Zomm and others below, notify you when you are about to seperate from your electronics or other valuables. They emit a sound to give you a warning.

    


To make sure gadgets such as laptops and tablets stay with you there is security software available, such as LoJack for Laptops, for download. It installs onto your laptop and provides a peace of mind knowing that you will be able to get it back and also that the thief would not be able to access your data.

Other travel tips to keep your gadgets safe:

Avoid the seat-back pocket – it’s a convenient place to store your iPad and phones while in flight but that seat-back pocket is the black hole when it comes to gadgets. Even though I avoid putting my gadgets there, I check these pockets several times at landing to make sure I didn't leave anything else behind.

Label your gadgets – An easy way to label is to use a piece of masking tape and write your name and phone number. Tape this to your gadget and you’re good to go. It’s low-tech but it works.

Know your gadget – If you do leave your gadget behind, be ready to give details to describe it to get back. Color, brand, model or any unique marks that your gadget might have are all helpful to reconnect you with your device. Also other unique, though internal features, such as a list of artists or list of files, would be helpful to know and present to identify you as the owner.

Physical safety of your devices:
All devices traveling should have some sort of carrier, cover or reinforcement in case it is dropped or gets wet. Some of the best are:
    

      

The Top 20 US Airports for TSA Theft
http://www.airportlostandfound.com/the-top-20-us-airports-for-tsa-theft/

The My TSA App provides passengers with 24/7 access to the most commonly requested TSA information.




Sound-off: Let us know if you have ever left things behind and if were successful in getting them back?

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