12 FBI Approved Online Safety Tips for Travelers!

If you’re like many people these days, you’re finding that the need to connect online for banking, shopping and even social networking can increase when traveling. Not surprisingly, these are all welcome forums for cyber-thieves.

Just as we need to guard our money and our credit cards when we shop in brick-and-mortar stores, at home or abroad, we need to be equally vigilant when we enter cyberspace to make purchases and financial transactions.

Based upon information provided to me by the FBI’s Washington Field Office recently, there are a number of key things you can do to help keep your credit and your identity safe from a growing number of crafty cyber-interlopers—particularly when you’re traveling and not using your own home computer, or when you’re using your computer outside of your own home. Here are some of the top tips:

1.     Always be sure your antivirus software is up to date.

2.     Use long and strong passwords, and change them often.

3.     Never send any kind of personal or financial information via email, and be certain that any transaction site you’re using is secure and the information you provide is being encrypted. Be sure you’re viewing websites using https rather than http settings for maximum security.

4.     Don’t shop or do your banking when using public WiFi, such as in an airport, a hotel, or a coffee shop as these networks are often not secure.

5.     When possible, always use credit cards rather than debit cards when shopping online. Most credit cards limit your personal liability for fraudulent purchases, but once money is taken out of your checking account it can be difficult to get it back. Prepaid credit cards provide the highest online shopping security.

6.     As you get ready to make an online purchase or conduct a banking session, open a new browser window. When you’re finished, log out of the site; don’t just close the window. Doing this can help prevent you from being “followed” in or out of the session by a cybercriminal.

7.     Many credit card companies provide email alerts for purchases. I LOVE this benefit, and have it set up on my Platinum American Express and Visa credit cards! I receive an immediate email, literally within minutes of a transaction, specifying the cost, venue, and other important detail related to the purchase.  With these free alerts, you’ll be able to determine right away if there are fraudulent charges being billed to your card.

8.     Beware of e-mails offering deals that sound too good to be true. One-day-only or deep-discount deals offered on a social networking site or a web site you don’t recognize are often scams to access your personal and financial information.

9.     Don’t follow links provided by unknown senders. They can lead to fraudulent websites designed to harvest your financial information and/or identity.

10.  Particularly when you’re traveling, you may be using your smart phone or tablet instead of your computer. Remember that phones and tablets are also computers and need to be password-protected and updated, just like your computer. In addition, phones often use GPS to provide you with information. Be sure to disable the GPS function when it isn’t needed, and so that cyber-criminals can’t determine where you are.

11.  Be careful about downloading un-vetted “apps” as some are built to capture your personal and financial information.

12.  Social networking sites are a great way to stay in touch, but posting information about yourself and your family, including your whereabouts, can be dangerous. It’s safer to keep personal information private, or at least for “friends” only.

Editors’ Note: Carolyn Paddock writes about products and services that are beneficial for travelers. The products and services mentioned are neither commissioned by nor written in cooperation with the product company or manufacturers.