Avoid credit card fraud during your travel

Things you can do to protect yourself when you are traveling

The travel season is coming, and thieves are preparing for it as much as you are.                                  Don't have your vacation ruined by having your  credit cards a stolen.                                              You may not be liable for fraudulent charges made on your card, the hassle factor is not fun, especially if the compromised card is the primary debit or credit card you use.

The good news is that card issuers have systems in place to catch unauthorized use before it happens. Marina Hoffmann Norville, a spokeswoman for American Express says "We have sophisticated monitoring to detect fraud activity, so we do a lot of this on the back end". "We can see a granular level of detail, so we can pick up cards with unusual activity."

You should not however only rely on the card companies to catch fraudulent transactions.                 You can take a few simple steps before, during and when returning from you your vacation to help protect your personal information.

Minimize the content of your wallet

You do not need to bring all of your credit cards on vacation. It only increases your risk of having one of them lost or stolen. Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling advises to "Unload your wallet. Only take the cards with you that you intend to use".

Choose one card you plan to use for everything during the trip. it is best to choose a card with a high credit limit just in case you have unforeseen expenses, and if traveling overseas, it should be a card with a low or zero percent foreign transaction fees. It may be wise to bring also a backup card. You may not want to bring your debit card, unless you anticipate having to visit ATMs to take out cash. 

Have copies made of the cards you bring

Make copies of the front and back of all cards you bring bring with you, and make sure the account number and the toll-free customer service number are legible. If you travel outside the U.S., check if you have the number you can call to reach customer service from outside of the country on the back. If you don't have it, call your credit card company and ask for it. Make two copies. Leave one with a friend or family member, and bring one on your trip.

Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Identity Theft 911, suggests bringing digital "copies" if you're tech-savvy. He advises: "I would have a copy of my critical documents that would identify me if money is being wired to me. I would scan in my credit cards, my passport and driver's license. I would scan that into my computer and save it on an encrypted thumb drive".

Make sure to store these in a safe place, but not in the same place as your actual cards, as you would do with paper copies. Levin suggests wearing the thumb drive on a lanyard around your neck, tucked under your shirt.

Contact the issuers and inform them about your travel plans

You want to do this for your convenience as well as for your protection. If you live in Seattle and your credit card company sees charges coming in from Barcelona, they might conclude that your card has been compromised and freeze the account for your protection. This could easily become a huge headache if you're actually in Barcelona.

Alert the card companies with as much detail about your itinerary as possible. Going to Europe? Tell them the countries and cities you'll be visiting and on what dates. If you know your budget, perhaps you should even tell them how much spending you expect to do.

Also inform them of a mobile phone number you can be reached at if something goes wrong, suggests Norville. "For a fraud alert, we'll contact you on the number we have on file. Putting your mobile number as one of the numbers we can contact you is a good idea," she advises. If you'll be traveling in an area where your cellphone doesn't get voice service, you may consider buying a locally compatible phone and give the issuers and your family at home that number.

Set up text alerts when possible

Norville also recommends taking advantage of any type of alerts you can get when on a trip. If you'll be able to receive text messages at your destination, find out what options your credit card company offers as far as text alerts.

Some companies allow you to set an alert that will send you a text message if a purchase over a certain dollar amount is made. You might want to be alerted alerts by email if you plan on bringing a laptop or smartphone.

Norville says alerts can be helpful i sticking to a budget. You can set an alert that will contact you if your balance goes above a certain Dollar amount. When you return, you can stop those alerts as easily as you set them up. 

Don't keep all your eggs in the same basket

Keeping everything together is a mistake. Keep your copied account data in a separate location from your credit cards since it doesn't make sense to keep everything in your wallet or handbag. You'll need that info if you get pickpocketed or fall victim to purse snatching.

You may want to bring your "main" card with you and leave the backup card in the in-room safe. John Sileo, a professional speaker and consultant on the topic of ID theft, advises not to leave valuables in a central safe by the hotel's front desk since a large number of hotel employees may have access to it, which can make your information susceptible to theft.

When bringing digital copies of your information, make sure to encrypt the folder or drive in which they're stored, so even if it is stolen or lost, your data can't be accessed.  

Periodically check your account

If you access to a computer or a smartphone, you can monitor your accounts from your hotel room or even the pool. Make sure you have a secure Internet connection (have a password to get online) and make sure you recognize your transactions.

Under no circumstances, should you do this at a shared or public computer in a hotel's lobby or business center. "The instances of tracking software on public computers are so high it's like playing Russian roulette," says Sileo. If a public computer is the only option you have, you may be better off calling your issuers to verify that your accounts have not been compromised.

Do not let your cards out of sight

Whenever possible, don't let your credit cards out of your sight. There are many instances where service professionals taking a card to process it and copying the data via a handheld skimmer in the process. Cunningham says "Waiters and waitresses can have skimmers, and all they have to do is run it through and they have your information".

Keeping your card in view may not always be practical, although some establishments may allow you to bring your card up to the front to pay your bill. If you're in a store or market, you may be able to observe the transaction. If you're really concerned, plan to pay in cash. Levin says there's nothing wrong with letting your instinct guide you. If something seems fishy, go elsewhere. 

Lastly follow up when returning home

When your vacation is over, monitor your accounts for a while. Professional scammers may not use or sell the numbers they collect right away. Review your statements carefully because thieves will sometimes run a tiny purchase through to see if the card number is still active.

If you think your account may have been compromised, you may want to have the card company cancel the card and issue a new card with a new number. If you do so, remember to update the merchants with which you've set up recurrent billing. 

Based on Bankrate article posted on 6/6/2011