How To Keep Yourself Safe In A Foreign Country - Part Two
Photo by reallysadgit
Following on from Lea’s first post about Keeping Your Stuff Safe, there are a few things you can do to keep yourself safe whilst out and about.
It’s easy to become another crime statistic to be filed in a report by a jaded police officer who’s seen it all before; uninformed tourist wanders into a dangerous part of town by mistake, gets mugged and has their backpack, wallet and passport stolen.
However, I do believe that nowadays most LIPs, travellers or working nomads have heard of enough horror stories in the media to ensure that they take at least some precautions when they visit an unfamiliar place.
That said, I find that there are three elements that can lead you into trouble. The first two are distraction and surprise. The third is a lack of local knowledge.
Whilst you can tick all the necessary travel safety boxes and still be unlucky enough to get mugged or assaulted there are certain things you can do to reduce that risk significantly…
Do your research
Whilst guide books offer a great deal of useful information they are usually only updated once or twice a year and the dynamics of a town or city can change within that period. It’s worth logging into an expat forum where some clued up locals may offer the latest on no-go areas, local scams and threats.
Know your languages
I find that the locals are much more willing to help you out if you try to speak their language first even if you struggle to speak it correctly. They appreciate the effort and will usually help you out by trying to respond with a few words in english. If you’re in a tight spot speaking a few key words urgently will help.
Confident body language that tells those around you that you know where you’re going and what you’re doing is worth adopting too. If you have that uncomfortable feeling that someone is walking too closely, either next to or behind you, then hold your bag tightly and stop to let them pass.
Show me the money
Whilst in Rio I’m advised to only take out the cash I need for the day and to split that cash into “my cash” and “muggers cash”. In case I’m confronted I’d hand over a few coins that I would keep in a different pocket. It’s a habit worth getting into wherever you are.
In the Clubs and Bars
Tales of a tourist’s drink being spiked whilst having a good time in a bar or a nightclub are unfortunately common. In Brazil a drug called Good Night Cinderella is used to drug unsuspecting clubbers and when it has taken its effect the perpetrators help you back to your apartment room, put you to bed and efficiently begin to rob you of your possessions.
Therefore, as commonly advised, watch your drink. To add to this don’t accept chewing gum or cigarettes off “friendly” strangers either. These can be drugged as well.
WiFi Cafes
For the Location Independent Professional cafes that offer free WiFi can be attractive spots to work especially if the internet connection in your apartment has gone down. Sidejacking is something every user of a WiFi service should be aware of. The last thing you need when travelling and working in a foreign land is a hacker cloning your personal details.
As LIPs we often like to travel to idyllic locations where our momentarily overwhelmed senses can sometimes distract our attention and lower our guard just long enough to present an opportunity to a thief or a mugger. As the saying goes, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
If you know of any scams or tricks which are used on unsuspecting LIPs or travellers then please do share them…
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Comments
@Coach Kip There are many ways to steal your computer-based information but in the LIP scenario there are three in particular: by ’shoulder-surfing’; through an untrusted computer; or by capturing the transmitted information. Software isn’t always the answer for keeping yourself safe.
1) ‘Shoulder-surfing’
This is a technique where someone simply looks over your shoulder watching what you type. To avoid this, just be aware of your surroundings.
2) Through an untrusted computer
Any computer can have software installed that secretly records everything you type on the keyboard. This is especially true of those in internet cafes or hotel business rooms. What happens is that a malicious person will install recording software and wait for people to use the computer. A while later, the person retrieves the captured information, which would include web addresses, usernames, passwords and emails. It can be very difficult to know when this is happening so don’t trust public PCs.
3) Capturing transmitted information
I’ve found it extremely difficult to safeguard against this risk. Someone with enough technical knowledge can literally watch the passwords and emails flowing through your internet connection. This is true of both WiFi and a wired cable. Preventing this requires the owner of the network connection to properly configure their equipment. Of course, as a customer, you have no control over how the equipment is set up.
One way to protect yourself is to use VPN software. VPN stands for Virtual Private Networking and is a way of scrambling your transmitted information, protecting it from prying eyes. Unfortunately this software can tricky to set up and often used by corporations with their own IT department. As a LIP, you’re unlikely to have your own IT support team!
The good news is that companies are now offering simple solutions for a monthly fee. I’ve not used any but the following Web Worker Daily article might help:
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/08/15/keeping-your-public-wi-fi-sessions-secure/#more-1036
Anthony
Great post, Greg. Another scam that I have heard about is a two-on-one scam. A stranger “accidentally” squirts mustard all over you and tries to help you clean it up while an accomplice picks your pocket.
Unfortunately, we had a little scam pulled over on us and some extended family members when we first arrived here in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I think it might help others to hear what happened.
My brother-in-law is from Buenos Aires, and his family still lives here. The family unexpectedly showed up at the airport to pick us up and help us get to our hotel. They don’t speak a lick of English, and our Spanish is not so good (but improving daily!), so they brought along some “family friends” who speak a little English to help us communicate. Unfortunately, these “family friends” were actually just distant acquaintances of a “wacky cousin” in the family and ended up being completely untrustworthy.
These acquaintances acted extremely helpful, concerned, and friendly. They INSISTED that they make two trips to and from the airport in their car to help us move our copious amounts of luggage, stating that a taxi would be extremely expensive. (Which contradicted what I had heard in my research, but I didn’t want to offend them by turning them down.)
They then proceeded to insist that they help us settle into our apartment the next day. We bought them dinner and reimbursed them for their parking, gas, and toll expenses, which were considerable for two trips to the airport. They then told us that the next meal would be on them. They also insisted that we call them anytime, 24/7 if we ever needed help.
The next day these “family friends” picked us up at our hotel, made two trips in their car to get us to our apartment, checked the entire apartment for security, and helped us find a bank where we could change some US dollars to Argentine pesos. They were in the room when we counted out three months of rent when the apartment owners arrived. We ended up only paying one month’s rent at the time, and now these people saw how much money was in our apartment. Big mistake!
We bought these new “friends” a nice lunch and thanked them for all their help. They told us that they would like us to visit them sometime, and we readily agreed. It felt great to know that we already had some nice “friends” here in Argentina. Little did we know that friendship was the last thing on their minds.
I later found out through my sister (who is married to my brother-in-law from Buenos Aires), that these “friends” went over to my brother-in-law’s family’s house the next day and demanded that they pay them for all their time and work in helping us settle into our new place. They said that if the family didn’t pay, they would demand the money from us. The family was mortified and quickly paid them the exorbitant amount that they demanded in order to avoid us ever finding out what had happened.
We were shocked when we found out that this happened and refunded my brother-in-law’s family the next time we saw them. (We sneakily hid the money in a gift because we knew they wouldn’t accept it otherwise.) Needless to say, we immediately became paranoid that these people would send some to rob our apartment, as they saw all our cash, our our three new computers, etc. (AND they knew of the one or two security problems at our place.) My sister urged us to quickly remedy the security problems and get renter’s insurance, because these people robbing our apartment was not out of the question.
Lessons learned: Just because a family member or friend seems to trust someone, that doesn’t mean you should explicitly trust them, too. Don’t let someone you hardly know come to your apartment, case your place, and then count out large amounts of cash in front of them. If someone insists on “helping” you and you don’t feel comfortable with it, don’t be afraid to turn them down. Accidentally offending someone is not as bad as getting scammed.
Hi Melanie - thanks for sharing that - you had quite an experience. Its shocking to think so-called “friends” would behave like that and must have put you in a very difficult situation - as you say, not wanting to offend them and being pleased to have made some friends only to find out they’ve been scamming you. Shocking. Thank you for sharing the experience here - much appreciate.
Lea
Everywhere we go there is always a risk - thats true. But surely there are ways to avoid these travel sabotage. And you have just given one good share of travel reminder. Thank you. Enjoy Blogging!
One of the newbie mistakes I made was while traveling along in Barcelona I decided to walk from the train station to my accommodations carrying all my bags. I stopped to look at my map and a guy starts yelling at me and pointing off in some direction… One of my bags was gone by the time I got a handle of the situation. Grabbed a taxi the rest of the way. When I arrived I saw a sign that read “Watch out for Arabs that distract you while they take your stuff” … Thanks.
Anyway, I’ve learned to play it safe especially when you have all your stuff on you.
@Kyle Jones - It’s always in and around the train stations where you find the problems - that’s where I got robbed too 
Still, when it’s happened to you once you always then know what to look out for, don’t you? 
Working as an LIP certainly brings up new problems for identity theft. When buying from street vendors I was always aware not to let someone stand behind me. That is a common tactic in many countries, you buy from one person while thier partner picks your pocket.
But logging on to the internet and having someone beside you steel your information through your computer is new to me. Thanks for the advice.
Do you know of any good software to block this type of activity?