UK Travelers Told to Avoid Sharing Luxury Purchases and Travel Documents Online to Prevent Theft and Cybercrime | #cybercrime | #infosec

With the approaching bank holidays, the UK is expecting a surge in domestic and international travelers, so this is a gentle reminder not to overshare holiday posts on social media. Recently, holidaymakers have been warned that excess online activity while posting during travel vacations could lead to a myriad of different personal safety and home security issues.

Sharing the check in location on various social media platforms could easily lead to home thefts as posts signal to the UK alert wrongdoers that a holiday is in place. Posts on social media that check in to various restaurants, theaters, or mentions of vacations spoil the element of surprise.

Here are three major social media habits that the UK travelers are advised against and emphasize the risks that can arise if not controlled.

Geotagging Instagram Pictures and Checking in at the Restaurant.

GPS tagging locations while on holiday posting could be a fun social media activity, but it’s actually the easiest enable for thieves to discover that a house is not occupied. Tagging restaurants while on holidays paired with checking in at the airport lounge is a great way to say the house is empty.

It’s not only your home that can be targeted. Shared updates can be used by thieves to track your location. Even private profiles are not completely safe. Posts can be reshared or screenshotted and can be accessed by people beyond your given network.

Instead of posting pictures and videos in real time, take them and share them once you return to the UK. This way, you are still able to share your experiences while ensuring your safety.

Travel Documents and Boarding Passes

Passport or boarding pass snapshots are becoming the world’s smallest scanner. They are also the easiest way to be a victim of identity fraud. These documents can easily be abused because they contain sensitive information like booking codes and barcodes. Scammers can use them to access your travel details, cancel your flights, or in the worst case, steal your identity.

With only a single image the way of identity fraud in airlines booking has increases. To protect yourself keep private documents private. If you want to post from the airport, safe options can be to post a coffee cup or the runway, not personal documents.

Flaunting Your Wealth on Social Media

Are you sharing photos showing off luxury shopping bags from your trip, high end watches, or expensive electronic gadgets? Well If you are, you go on to become an very easy target for criminals. As we all know, travelers to certain destinations are always at risk, and people preying on your social media are always on the lookout for trips to places that are well known.

This risk does not just end after the holiday ends. If you posting expensive items after the holiday, that puts your valuable items at risk, especially if criminals are watching. Instead posting pictures about your holiday that “Tell a story, a richer story” instead of endangering yourself.

Why Travelers From the UK Should Be Careful Online?

Oversharing can be a digital habit for people nowadays, but that can pose a risk to an individual. Posting live updates and boarding pass photos can be harbors of creating an identity which can be targeted for theft and even fraud. Hot new products that someone thinks is a good idea also add to the risk.

While sharing things online and exposing your personal life is an only a digital habit for many people, adding a few extra periods to that can pose as a permanent risk, especially if the events that occur are the opposite to what someone intends. Shifting all the focus to experiences instead of mentioning items that we are all social media geeks is surely something that pays off in the long run.