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MY WALLET WAS STOLEN many years ago when I was traveling on business. I had gotten onto a crowded elevator at my hotel. The last person to get on was a woman who pretended to get her heel caught in the elevator door.
The thieves were a young couple—and they were real pros. While we were focused on her, her partner proceeded to open the flap of my handbag and help himself to my wallet. Who knows how many others he took before they both decided to get off the elevator?
Even though I thought I’d taken great care to randomly jot down pin numbers and passwords on a cheat sheet, they had no problem deciphering how to use them. In a matter of minutes, they had charged $3,000 on a couple of my credit cards.
I was thinking about that incident after reading an article about downsizing your wallet. Some of the items we carry around could be a treasure trove for thieves.
Here are some things that should come out: extra cash beyond what you would need for an emergency, your health insurance card, credit cards rarely used or only used for online purchases, blank checks (who uses checks anymore, anyway?), receipts, store rewards cards, photos, library card and, yes, cheat sheets with pin numbers and passwords.
Why the library card? Thieves can run up fines on a stolen card, affecting your credit score. What if you have a medical emergency and need your insurance card? What if you’re out and about, and suddenly realize you need to go to the grocery store and want your rewards card? Due to a lack of space in my wallet, I used to keep a separate thin wallet with my driver’s license, insurance information and other items. That second wallet wasn’t stolen by the elevator thieves. Today, we can keep some of this information on our phones.
What does that leave? You might carry a small amount of cash for emergencies, such as for a cab that doesn’t take credit cards. If you’re traveling, you might also want extra cash to tip the bellboy or the porter. In addition, you’ll want the credit and debit cards that you’ll need that day.
While you’re at it, make a photocopy or take a photograph of the front and back of your credit and debit cards, as well as your driver’s license and your passport. If you lost any of these, that information could be invaluable.
I prefer to have a little in my wallet as possible. All those ancillary cards (library, AARP card, discount cards, etc.) I digitize them and keep them in my password manager (along with passwords one can keep almost any electronic document, file, picture, etc. in their password manager). In most instances, the vendor only needs to see the barcode, which one can easly pull up from their password database. Also good to keep digital backups of the items you do carry in your wallot in the database as well. If not a password database, a cloud file will do as well.
If you’ve ever seen the Seinfeld where George is sitting on and using a completely overstuffed wallet, well, that used to be me. 4 or 5 years ago II bought a Ridge wallet and never looked back. I bought two for my boys as well. It holds just what I need, credit cards and license, and has a money clip on the side. As opposed to a juicy target in your back pocket, the Ridge is carried in the front pocket and is harder for thieves to get to and never falls out on its own. I’m not a minimalist, but I swear by this wallet after carrying around a file drawer for years in my back pocket.
I have a severe food allergy and have had to be rushed to an emergency room on several occasions due to bad reactions. I would never want to be out without my medical insurance card (or my EpiPens). I’d rather risk the fallout of having it stolen than not having it on me in an emergency.
When I went to Rome a few years ago, I was warned about rampant pick pocketing. As a precaution, I wore a money belt with essential items: passport, 1 credit card and a small amount of cash. I had photocopies of passport and other valuables and kept other things in the hotel safe.
They warn that pickpockets operate in crowded areas, so I avoided crowds as much as possible. As a travel lightweight I was probably lucky. I read where Rick Steves was pick pocketed in Paris this year. So it can happen to anybody.
Attenzione pickpocket!
On recent trips there have been instances when the ATM card has been compromised so I could no longer access the account and cash couldn’t be withdrawn. In the first instance I had plenty of dollars to not be pleading for $ from friends via Venmo. The second instance one of the folks I was traveling with had her card frozen and had no way to access her account. She was able to borrow cash from fellow travelers or would worry about going to Bali with only 1 card. I carry multiple credit cards Visa/Mastercard and American Express for airport lounge purposes and put them in various bags/pockets. (Of course overseas American Express rarely is accepted.) I keep my wallet in front pocket and if possibly zipped. I think the trade-off is I would rather have money stolen than be stranded abroad. And most libraries stopped fining for late fees but leave that card at home since unnecessary.
Obviously, I don’t take my library card abroad. I don’t take my driver’s license either, unless I think I may actually drive abroad (haven’t done that since 2004). I take my overseas medical/evacuation insurance card, not my US ones, etc. Sadly, a zippered front pocket is an inadequate defense against a talented thief. This is an excellent run down of precautions: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/theft-scams/outsmarting-pickpockets
That said, I believe these precautions are unnecessary in Japan.
Funny you mention Japan. I was just there and needed an international driver’s license only because I was able to drive go-karts through the downtown streets of Tokyo.
Good suggestions Sonja. A year ago I wrote an article for HD about travel security. Lately we perhaps haven’t been as diligent about some of the practices I outlined then, mostly because of the kind of travel we’re doing right now, staying in people’s homes rather than in hotels and AirBnB. But sometimes we do the latter, as well as take public transportation, and we should always be vigilant. Thanks for the reminder.
I was pickpocketed back in 2004 on a bus in Rome, but the thief must have been disappointed. Aside from a cheap wallet he got an expiring bus pass and just a little cash. Ever since I started traveling seriously in 2001 I have worn a money belt under my clothes that I don’t access in public. (If my accommodation has a safe I usually use that, but I rarely stay in that kind of place.) The list of “important numbers” is on a slip of paper in the same place and, these days, online. I am so used to the money belt I feel undressed without it the first few days after a trip.
Now cash is no longer king I would need to keep one credit card handy, but I have four that charge no foreign conversion fees, so losing one would be annoyance, but not fatal. I also carry at least two ATM cards.
I am much less worried about pickpockets at home. I drive myself everywhere (public transport is prime pickpocket territory) and am careful about where I put my handbag in cafes, restaurants and grocery stores. My library no longer charges fines, and I am old enough I would not want to leave my medical insurance cards at home – at least they no longer carry my Social Security number.
The Points Guy recommends that when traveling you have more than one credit card because if one is compromised you have the second as backup which makes sense to me
As I posted, I travel with at least three if not four credit cards and two ATM cards. Not to mention an emergency stash of cash. I travel solo, but if there are two of you each of you should have two cards, and all four should be different. Make sure they have no foreign conversion fees. (And if you check bags, cross pack.)
It is a sick feeling when we’ve been violated. There are all types of thieves: good, bad and ugly. They are all around us: the internet, an honest neighbor, a crooked salesperson, or while getting your vehicle filled at a gas station. It is endless in how many ways evil attacks us. We all know someone who was a victim; my parents, myself, friends and others. Women are probably more vulnerable because of their handbags. Your advice from experience is excellent, although I feel too much personal information on a mobile phone is also prone to being stolen. As technology advances, perhaps it will provide us a more secure lifestyle. The Ring doorbell (or similar brands) alone has provided a feeling of security. It may not stop a thief, but at least you have the perpetrator on camera. Sorry for your loss and it’s a good reminder for everyone.