As has been noted, there are lots of people traveling this summer. But a consumer advocate says it's also a prime time for identity thieves to latch onto you.
Michelle Reinen is state Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Affairs.
She says something small could have big consequences...
"...Taking into consideration that you could lose your cell phone. It can contains tons of personal data nowadays. One good way to protect yourself is to have the 'find my phone' feature activated so you can find the phone if it's nearby or remote wipe the data and disable the device so that way you won't have your information compromised..."
She says there are other things to consider....
"...If you're renting a vehicle, think of your identity as it relates to using features of that vehicle. Most rental car companies don't have any policy concerning deleting your blue-tooth enabled activities from the vehicles sound and navigation system once you return it. Think about what data you might have allowed that rental car to access. Your GPS navigation but it may have also accessed your contacts if you did any remote calls or did hands-free call features...."
She says limit what you do on public Wi-Fi and avoid logging into accounts that have sensitive information such as banking and email. Two other tips include using a virtual private network if you need a more secure connection and set you device seeting to ask permission before connecting to a Wi-Fi network.
