Vacation Safety Tips: Protect Your Car and Home!

You gotta have a summer. Maybe you’re planning a long vacation, a weekend getaway or a road trip this summer! (If so, can we come?) It’s a good idea to run down this checklist of safety tips!

1. Practice Smart Parking 101 – Don’t leave valuables for a long period of time. Park in secure, monitored lots or in a well-lit, busy area! And at the airport, if you’re going to use the long-term parking lot—potential thieves know you’re not coming back any time soon!—so take everything of value with you.
2. Smart Parking 202 – Consider a car security system or a GPS tracker – maybe your car already has a smart key that allows remote deactivation. Pretty cool, right? Some car safety advocates also recommend etching your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on windows and engine parts so authorities can ID a car if stolen.
3. Cash, checks, or what? Leave your checkbook at home on vacation. You’re not going to use it anyway! Leave any extra credit or debit cards behind too.
4. Leave bills at home! Some of us try to use quiet nights in hotels to catch up on bills. Unfortunately many people have access to your room while you are out and victims have reported that account information and check information has been stolen this way!
5. Put Things On Hold. Put your mail on “postal hold” stating that for a period of time you wish to have your mail held at the post office. “Postal hold” is the preferred term, rather than “vacation hold” so that postal clerks will not know that you will be gone. Learn more at: https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail
6. Make your home look lived-in. Arrange for friends or family you trust to pick-up newspapers, mail, and advertisement flyers in order to avoid drawing attention to your home. This will reduce the risk of break-ins which may result in the loss of valuables, including your identity. Nothing says “we’re out of town” more than a pile of newspapers!

Stay ahead of fraudsters!