The Dangers of Social Media While Travelling

Try to resist the temptation to share selfies on social media while you’re on vacation. Cyber scam artists can take advantage of the fact that you’re away to launch a targeted vacation scam against your friends and family, or your employees or workplace team members.  

Below we cover some ways sharing a simple photo at the pool could lead to costing you thousands, even millions and not to mention your privacy!

Your Home Security

Posting your holiday images while you're still on vacation is asking to invite a burglar to break into your house.

Local thieves are always scouring social media for opportunities. For criminals who do this for a job, figuring out where you reside is usually not difficult. And some individuals make a living doing it.

But it doesn't have to be a stranger; perhaps one of your pals has a delinquent sibling who sees your pricey vacation photos and chooses to take your new flat screen for himself.

Of course, you should always ensure that your home is secure when you travel.  Your chances of being robbed are significantly higher if people know that you’re not home.

Wait to post your vacation statuses until you get home, and, for the same reason, don’t post travel countdowns in the lead-up to your trip. You’re just giving thieves the time for planning.

It’s also important to never assume that your privacy settings on social media mean that only your friends will see your posts. Your friend could be logged in at a coffee shop or gym, where it’s easy to see over their shoulder, or a neighbour could mention it to someone in passing.

Did You Know >> Insurers are increasingly rejecting claims made by customers whose homes have been burgled while on holiday if they have shared the fact that they are away from home on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Your Personal Safety

Do you recall what occurred on October 3rd, 2016?

In Paris, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint. While an attack like this is never the victim's fault, her assailants knew exactly where she was, where she was living, and that she was holding a $4 million diamond.

The alleged robber admitted to French police that her social media posts provided his crew with a lot of the information they needed to pull off the theft.

Let's face it: neither you nor I will ever achieve the same degree of celebrity as Kim Kardashian, nor will we ever buy a $4 million ring. You don't have to be a big-name celebrity, however, to put your personal safety in jeopardy.

Posting exactly where you are on social media on any given day is risky. You have no idea who is viewing your posts, or how they might decide to use the information.

You should always let a friend or family member know where you are located in case something happens but the whole world doesn't need to know.

Tip >> Don’t tag photos of friends or family you’re vacationing with while on vacation either. Tagging them reveals their current location too, and even if you don’t care, they might not want this information out there. Make sure you enable Facebook’s tag review so you have to approve any and all tags before they publish.

Know Your Surroundings

Being aware of your surroundings is key, especially when you are travelling in a foreign country.  If you eyes are glued to your phone you can't be aware.

Not only does this present multiple threats to your personal safety; everything from not noticing you’re being followed, to not noticing that you’re being approached, or stepping into oncoming traffic because you’re walking while posting and forgetting that England drives on the left side of the road.

Financial Theft & Identity Fraud

Burglary isn't the only form of theft you might encourage by announcing your travels to the globe. For some reason, we enjoy sharing images of our flight passes, tickets, and passports on social media, but this may be quite harmful in the wrong hands.

You should never post a photo of your boarding card, no matter how tempting it is to start your journey with a photo from the airport.

You can utilize the barcode on a boarding pass to hack into that itinerary if you know what you're doing. That implies that anyone with your barcode can check your bookings, change seats, order meals, cancel your trip, and even gain access to your frequent flyer account.  If they receive enough information they can potentially steal your identity.

Tip >> If you DO decide to post a photo of your boarding pass, make sure you first take the time to blur the barcode and any primary information.

Cybersecurity

We've learned to expect free internet when we travel, and you'll need it if you're live-blogging your travel updates. However, connecting to the internet from another country poses significant cyber security dangers.

I'll clarify that since not all connections are dangerous; you'll be all right if you're on a secured network where you have to enter a password. When we travel, however, most of the networks we connect to are public, open networks, whether at the airport, hotel, or café.

Everyone on the same network (which may be thousands of people if you're connected at a hotel, café, or airport) can easily view your data: usernames, passwords, credit card information, etc.

Criminals have even been known to set up fake WiFi connections in order to hack or infect your device with malware.

Obviously, most of us are unable to entirely disengage from the internet, thus using a VPN to access the internet safely is critical (Virtual Private Network).  When you use a VPN, it encrypts your traffic before it reaches your ISP, which means that only you and your VPN server can “see” it.

There are free VPN’s that you can use on both your desktop and your phone. Hotspot Sheild VPN is a great one to use for a small fee because it uses military-grade encryption and you can link up to 5 devices. 

In Summary - What Should You Do

In case we haven't drilled it into your brain enough - don't post until after your vacation!  Below is an easy checklist to follow!

1. Before you leave, make sure your house is secure. Lock all doors and windows, switch off all electrical outlets, and secure your valuables. If you have a home security system, you'll get bonus points.
2. Before you depart, share your schedule with someone you trust so that they may contact you in the event of an emergency.
3. Even after you've returned home, never publish images of tickets, flight cards, or passports. If you do post travel documents, make sure the barcodes and primary information are distorted.
4. If you must use social media while travelling, avoid using the 'check-in' feature, which will reveal your location.
5. Talk to the people you're travelling with about not tagging you in their posts. Allow Facebook's tag review tool to work for you.
6. Download a VPN
7. Delete comments or posts from friends and family on your page that give away your travel plans.

Now that you're educated on how to stay safe during your travels get out there and enjoy some sun!

If you would like to learn more about cybersecurity click here.  Schedule your complimentary summer business systems assessment with one of our experienced technicians today!

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