Avoiding Identity Theft When Living Abroad

Take steps to protect your identity when using credit cards overseas.

As the global economy continues to adopt new technologies, the an expatriate living abroad benefits in many ways. However, those same technologies expose someone who has chosen to retire abroad with a number of financial risks. Identity theft is one of the more significant concerns should you decide to retire overseas.

What is identity theft and why is it of concern?

When someone utilizes your personal information to masquerade as you for the purposes of engaging in financial transactions, you are a victim of identity theft.

If someone does obtain your personal information, they may be able to access your banking, credit card, or other financials account with that information. Or they may be able to open a new financial account under the pretense of being you. They may be able to use these credit cards or obtain loans to purchase items, leaving you with the bills to pay. In the worst case, you aren’t even aware of the mounting debt if they have opened up a fraudulent account in your name.

For example, on a recent trip abroad, someone was able to steal my identity and created a false credit card. Fortunately, I monitor my credit card reports regularly and immediately noticed expenses occurring thousands of miles away in my name and on my credit card account and was able to close the account immediately. The identity thief was somehow able to obtain all my credit card information and create a false credit card. Fortunately, the thief was only able to get a gallon of gas and a pizza before I discovered the fraudulent charges.

I normally do not use my credit card when I am travelling or living abroad. But on that trip, I was not able to use my atm card to withdraw cash from a bank and had to utilize my credit card. Unfortunately for me, somewhere along the line, someone stole my identity when I used my credit card.

How do these thieves obtain your personal information?

Physical use of your credit card: whenever you use your credit card in person, it is possible for a thief to obtain your credit card information with special equipment as it is being processed. They may then use that information to create a fraudulent card. Alternately, they may obtain your credit card information from the receipts produced by the charge on your credit card.
 
Phishing: A more insidious method of identity theft is through “phishing,” where a thief poses as your bank or some other company. A very common scam is for the thief to send you an email that asks you to go to the company site by clicking a link to correct an error or update your account.

The link takes you to a fraudulent site that looks very much like the real site where you unwittingly disclose your personal information to the thief. Once they have that information such as password and account information, they can then access your account. Or if you’ve provided your name, address and other personal details, they may be able to open up a credit card in your name.

Computer Pop-Up Scams: a pop-up “scam” that even some reputable companies may engage in occurs through use of some third party company that charges your for services that you may not even be aware that you are purchasing. For example, after logging onto one bank that I had a credit card with and paying my bill dutifully, I was served with an annoying pop up window as I logged out.

As I clicked to close the pop up window, I had unknowingly completed an agreement with that company and was charged for that service to that bank. This was a very tricky scam, and the charge did not appear for several months, and I was completely unaware that I had purchased their services. A few months later, a small and almost unnoticeable amount was charged against my credit for membership in some type of club.

Through the simple click of a button, the “scam” company was able to obtain my credit card information from the bank without me realizing that I was authorizing the charge. Despite my protests to the bank, they claimed I had approved the charge and that I had to obtain a refund from the “scam” company. The “scam” company insisted that I had agreed to membership in their club and authorized a monthly fee. It took a considerable amount of heated discussion before they agreed to return my funds and terminate my subscription.

That same “scam company” caught me on a different occasion when I purchased airline tickets from a very popular online seller. After purchasing the ticket, I was given an offer for a $25 discount. Well, I clicked the button and there was no discount, but I had been enrolled again in the same company (under a different name). Again, the charges did not appear on my credit card until many months later.

What do thieves do with your information?

Thieves can do any number of things to hurt you financially. This includes creating a duplicate credit card, opening up a new bank or credit card account in your name, accessing your online bank/credit card accounts to transfer funds, and so forth.

How to Avoid ID Theft:

• When travelling or living abroad a retiree can minimize his or her risks by:
  using cash for purchases. I personally only use a credit card for emergencies, avoid making charges on my credit card, and if short on funds, use my credit card to obtain cash from an ATM machine and pay in cash.
• Never respond to email solicitations for personal information.
• Whenever joining an online community, I never provide my real personal information such as birth date, name, address and so forth that could be used in ID theft.
• I never disclose any personal information over the phone, even if they claim it’s my bank unless I am the one calling the bank and I know that I am dialing the correct number.
• I maintain a credit card with a low credit limit for all online purchases to minimize any damage if it is somehow stolen.
• I consciously avoid using the same password and username on community sites and my financial sites. I also don’t use the same security questions (e.g. name of your mother, etc.).
• I keep my credit card in a safe and only carry cash needed for the day when staying in a hotel.

When I retire abroad, I will continue to maintain contact with many financial institutions and retail outlets online. Taking steps to prevent identity theft will be critical to protecting my credit.

Popularity: 3% [?]