Fraud and Theft

This section covers an ever growing and widely committed type of fraud. Although the incidence of fraud may not be any greater than where you are moving from, it is important to be aware of the country, how prevalent this type  of fraud is and potentially, the inability to solve these crimes.
Just because you maybe moving to a less (or more) developed country in terms of infrastructure, identity theft world-wide and credit card fraud is sophisticated and is becoming more widespread and prevalent everywhere.

Whilst the use of credit cardsis extremely convenient, however, in some countries, preferential advice suggests using cash for purchases wherever possible thus reducing the opportunities for identity fraud, counterfeit credit cards or copying credit cards for intended internet fraud.

Where possible, in Asia, Africa and other high risk regions, local currency should only be withdrawn from the ATM of the local bank you have an account with.
Restrict yourselves from using MasterCard, Visa, Maestro or other debit cards to withdraw cash from overseas as thieves have been able to withdraw all available funds from accounts after this has been done at an ATM.

Ensure you have an online guarantee from your bank that refunds your money in the event you fall a victim to fraud, having firstly ensured all possible precautions have been followed by yourselves to protect your finances.

Check where possible that all your online bankers’ suggestions about lessening your vulnerability through using secure measures when using social networking programs.

If living in a seriously high risk country fraud-wise, where you are not using all your cards frequently or not intending to use one credit card for a while, you may even consider advising the bank of where and when you are next travelling abroad.
Although this cannot prevent the frequent over-rides computer generated blocks place on your account it lessens the risk of fraud.
You, of course are still facing the added inconvenience when a computer-generated automation puts a block on your account, so ensure you have the ‘emergency number’ to hand, so that you can call and resurrect the situation when blocks are automated.

When destroying credit card receipts, shred or burn them where possible.

Do not let merchants or their employees take your credit card out of your sight, the opportunities for them to steal your card information are endless. Better still, insist that you swipe your card yourself.

Establish a strong working relationship with your bank, recognising how and when you can stay in touch and 'know their systems', but ultimately so that you can act upon the situation immediately if a card is lost or stolen or your identity is at risk.

Keep up to date with the ever - new and increasing scams and don’t allow jargon or lack of information allow you to become a statistic.

Paguro Tip: do not rely on a single credit card, especially if you are travelling overseas, as it may happen (it has actually happened!!) that the bank may block your card if they suspect the card has been cloned or stolen and you might be left with no means of accessing your funds.