Dealing with threats such us identity theft, financial fraud, ransomware attacks, is always stressful. Dealing with them while in an unfamiliar environment, having to migrate financial accounts and being without a personal internet connection makes things even more difficult.
How do you minimize the risk ? Here are some tips to make sure you're as digitally secure as possible before, during and after your relocation.
Using credit and debit cards
Credit should be your main method of payment, together with cash, until you have a local account. Using credit cards means that thieves don't get access to the cash in your current account. Moreover, credit card companies generally offer more painless ways of reclaiming funds spent fraudulently.
Be cautious about public wi-fi
This is a general rule of thumb worth following wherever you are in the world. When overseas however, you're naturally not going to be as familiar with which hotspots are reputable, so extra vigilance is required.
Public wi-fi hotspots can be a source of numerous types of threat, from malware distribution to "sniffing" out your personal details. It is a good idea to turn off auto-connect to wi-fi on your smartphone, and other mobile devices.
Make sure your personal and professional devices are as secure as possible
Strong passwords are a must, using a combination of alphabetical, numerical, upper case, lower case and special characters. This makes approaches like "dictionary cracking" of passwords significantly harder for any digital thief.
Where possible implement two-factor authentication (2FA) for applications on your device. Virtually all major web-services providers offer this now, including Google and Facebook. 2FA's main strength is that it draws from two separate authentication factors; both a password and a piece of information that only the owner has, such as a physical token. 2FA objectively makes your personal information orders of magnitude more secure.
Avoiding counterfeit currency
Dealing with this threat depends on the country. Counterfeit cash fraudsters often rely on the relative ignorance of foreigners. As a result, be mindful of exchanging cash with taxi drivers. While it would obviously be an exaggeration to imply all taxi drivers are dishonest, it's a rare source of laundering in mainland China, among other countries.
Similarly, keep receipts of all foreign exchange transactions you make, as well as ATM receipts. This will allow you to lodge claims more easily, but it's still not a cast-iron guarantee you'll be refunded.
Crown's moving advisors help people relocate every day, across the world. Whether you want advice on how to set up a bank account as a foreign national in a new home, or simply want to make sure you are as digitally secure as possible prior to a move, we can help. Get in touch with us today to find out more.