How to prevent identity theft while travelling

Identity fraud risk can increase whilst travelling because you're temporarily holding more high-value identity data than normal. You’ll also likely use unfamiliar networks and devices, rely on foreign and often unknown email or SMS systems for booking and payment confirmations, and are more likely to expose travel dates, locations or document details through bookings, social media, hotel check-ins and public Wi‑Fi.

But learning how to prevent identity theft abroad can give you peace of mind.

Essentially, travel increases the number of places where your identity can be copied, intercepted, or misused, so here's our guide to helping you prevent it if you're travelling.

Why travellers are at higher risk of identity theft

Experian released data that stated 1 in 5 people lose some form of sensitive data or information while travelling. 

The common culprits are credit cards, drivers' licenses, and passports. And we usually carry all of that in one bag, so if we lose the bag, it's all gone, and you're literally giving someone exactly what they need to commit identity theft or financial fraud.

That alone would cause you enough stress that even a day by the pool couldn't solve, let alone the fact that it puts you at a higher risk of being a victim of impersonation and financial fraud.

Then there's the exposure density that we mentioned. You're typically combining passport data, booking references, payment cards, mobile numbers, device identifiers, boarding passes, hotel details, and real-time location signals in one short period.

We're also more likely to use questionable ATMs if it's the only one available in the area, and we're definitely more likely to share on social media that we’re sipping a mojito, letting people know we're abroad and vulnerable.

The travel and tourism ecosystem has become a sustained cyber target, especially through data breaches and malware affecting hotels, online travel agencies, and booking platforms. 

Suspicious online bookings, phishing scam messages from 'airlines' or 'hotels', and urgent payment requests are easier to miss when it's to do with your long-awaited holiday. 

Ways to prevent identity theft before you travel

Learning how to prevent identity theft before you travel is better than thinking about it once you've arrived. Some of the best ways to prevent identity theft before you travel are:

• Avoid using devices no longer supported with security updates, and remove unnecessary apps and services.

• Only download software and apps for holiday bookings from official app stores.

• Update banking and email apps.

• Remove dormant apps.

• Verify screen lock settings. 

• Only pack the credit card you'll use rather than taking your full wallet/purse. Some people consider getting a travel-oriented online bank account like Wise or Revolut and leave all of their main cards at home. 

• Use a strong, unique password for each travel account.

• Enable multi-factor verification on email, banking, airline, and cloud-storage accounts.

• Set up a PIN or password on reboot for your phone and facial biometrics.

• Turn on 'Find My' or 'Find My Device.'

• Reduce what you carry digitally and keep only the documents you will actually need, and store copies in a secure cloud wallet rather than a standard photo gallery.

How to protect your personal details while abroad

As well as the tips above, you should still take practical steps to secure your personal details while abroad.

The steps you can take to protect your personal details are:

• Keep Bluetooth and location services off when not needed.

• Avoid public Wi‑Fi where possible.

• Keep your passport as secure as possible and only take it out when you know you'll need it. Hotel safes are an option.

• Never leave luggage, printed boarding passes or paper itineraries unattended in airports, trains or hotel receptions.

• Consider using a dedicated travel card and only keep the currency you need in there. You can transfer and exchange money in the apps as you go.

• Don't post your live location or room number.

• Be cautious about giving out unexpected extra personal data. Verify whether it's truly required. 

It's just about being cautious of what you're doing and who has access to your personal information.

Tips to prevent identity theft when using public Wi-Fi

Nearly 4 in 10 adults have experienced a personal data compromise while using public Wi-Fi (All About Cookies).

Public Wi‑Fi is so risky. It compresses interception, impersonation, and distraction into one big threat. You can easily connect through an insecure network or a fake hotspot that mimics a legitimate venue, and the attackers can use that connection to tap into your device and steal all of your sensitive information. 

Or, they can put malware on your device, take everything they need, and make your device unusable so you can't rectify the situation.

One of the best tips to prevent identity theft if you have to use a public Wi-Fi is not to use it at all. But if you are going to use it, use a virtual private network (VPN). 

Your device should tell you if a public Wi-Fi connection isn't secure, but we'd play it safe and assume they're all not secure.

How to monitor your credit file for suspicious activity

Credit reference agencies can each report different information, but you can monitor everything in one place with Checkmyfile.

Pulling data from the three main credit reference agencies, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, we provide your most detailed credit report and the most comprehensive way of monitoring your credit health when travelling.

Get started with a 7-day free trial. It’s then £14.99 a month – cancel online anytime. 

When you look at your report, you should be checking for:

• New credit applications you don’t recognise.

• Newly opened accounts.

• Changes of address.

• Unfamiliar linked addresses.

• Unknown financial associates.

These are all clearly visible on your Checkmyfile report. 

What to do if your identity is stolen while travelling

It’s important to act as quickly as possible if you’ve been involved in identity fraud. The first thing we'd recommend doing is blocking all of your debit and credit accounts. If you have online banking, you can do this through your banking app. If not, try ringing your banking provider, and they should be able to do it for you once you've gone through the identity verification steps. 

And even if you do it through the app, you should contact your bank to tell them what's happening. They can block any pending transactions or unauthorised wallet use.

After that, we'd recommend following this sequence:

• Change passwords for your email and accounts containing sensitive information.

• Change any login PINs.

• Report lost or stolen documents to the issuer and to the local police.

• Save screenshots, suspicious messages, hotel correspondence, card notifications, and the times they occurred.

• Check your credit reports and report suspicious applications.

• Consider Cifas Protective Registration.

If the incident involved a scam payment from a UK account, the PSR says you should tell your bank as soon as possible and within 13 months for an in-scope APP claim. 

Knowing how to prevent identity theft before you travel can dramatically reduce your risk.