New research from credit card company Capital One should act as a warning to travellers abroad who are risking ID theft.
It seems that around forty-five percent of visitors abroad do not use the security facilities provided by hotels to keep their goods and paperwork safe. Most hotels offer safes in the room or via reception but we prefer instead to keep passports and other personal documents in the room just in a drawer or take them with us when we go out.
Perhaps this explains why around 300,000 Britons lost their passports last year. Lost also includes stolen by the way. Passports and other personal documentation make the whole process of identity theft much easier for someone and it is a situation that can prove very costly and time consuming to resolve. Some holidaymakers have returned home to find their bank accounts empty and credit cards maxed up. At least Capital One can help with some of these issues now.