In the latest disturbing mugging trend, not only are criminals demanding everything in your pockets, they’re forcing you to empty your bank accounts right from your phone. You’ll need to prepare your mobile from forced transfer muggings, otherwise you could be left with a lot more loss than just a stolen phone.

Here’s what you need to do to protect yourself.

Basics First

Often, the victims of these kinds of robberies are in public but distracted, ironically, by their phones. Thieves are looking for a quick opportunity and catching someone by surprise is a good way to save time and reduce their chances of getting caught. Always be aware of your surroundings in busy areas and if you have to check your phone, do it somewhere indoors or where you feel safe.

Even then, try not to get lost staring at your phone and save anything you need to really concentrate on for home or inside a cafe.

Use Biometrics

Enable Face ID on your iPhone or Face Recognition for Android because there are some key security features tied to them. Also, the PIN on your phone should be unique – make sure it’s not your ATM PIN or used for anything else other than to unlock your phone. Next you want to enable remote tracking features like “Find My iPhone” for iOS or “Find my Device” on Android because those will let you erase your phone if it’s lost or stolen.

When you have facial recognition enabled you can also hide apps or use private space on Android so your sensitive bank apps are hidden and require a face scan to open. It’s not absolute security but in the heat of the moment the robbers will try to get away as soon as possible, so this level of protection makes it less likely they’ll dig deep on the spot.

Go Cold Turkey

I’d recommend not having any of your bank apps on your phone – which sounds crazy – but trust me, you probably don’t need them as much as you think. And if you are going to have one, use a separate account for just your phone. The robbers are going to go for the easiest method so if you do decide to keep a banking app on your phone, make sure it’s bait.

Create a bank account you’ll only use with your phone and keep a very limited amount of money there. You can also set transfer limits on your accounts if your bank allows it so if you are forced to transfer money out at gunpoint, there’s a limit on how much you can withdraw per day. A lot of banks too have privacy and security features that you might not know about. It’s a pain but spending a few minutes to call their customer service or fraud departments and ask what features they have can be useful and if they’re lacking, letting them know it’s important to you or you might go to a competitor, which can be useful feedback.

For apps and services like Paypal, Zelle, Revolut, and Venmo make sure you also set up those accounts with transfer limits and keep no or a very small amount of funds there. Also, don’t connect them to your main bank accounts – only connect them with that secondary account that has limited funds.

You want to insulate your main accounts from your phone’s apps. For more on protecting yourself against forced transfer muggings watch this video.

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The two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia have long been restricted to outsiders. Some of that has changed in recent years in the case of Medina, but there are still some parts limited to outsiders. Saudi Arabia has strict restrictions preventing non-Muslims from entering Mecca and Medina’s holiest sites are also off limits.

To see inside both cities, you can watch this video from Mecca here and read below for more on both cities.

Traveling To Mecca

The entry point into Mecca is Jeddah for most people. It’s the closest major airport and from there you’ll take a high speed train, car, or taxi into Mecca.

There are checkpoints at the city limits that are casually manned depending on the time of the year. Around the season of the Hajj (the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) there may be more but at other times of the year Mecca is fairly quiet.

There are plenty of hotel rooms to stay near the Great Mosque that are within walking distance and prices are competitive. While the main draw to Mecca are the holy sites, there are other places in the city that remind you it’s an urban center with all the modern elements. Plentiful places to eat, shopping, as well as tours that can take you around to the holy sites in the vicinity.

Visiting Medina

In 2021 the Saudi government opened Medina up to non-Muslims, with some exceptions. It’s best to check the latest rules from official sources but in general the city is accessible and only some holy sites have restrictions. Those include the Prophet’s Mosque and the Quba Mosque but if you want to see inside, you can watch the video below linked here.

In short, visitors have options in some of the holy sites and cities within Saudi Arabia. Traveling is comfortable, modern, and prices on par, if not a little less expensive than western Europe.

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Bhutan is a country landlocked in the Himalayas that’s one of the most extraordinary and expensive places to visit. There’s a (now reduced to) $100 a day fee to be in the country and a lack of flights that keeps the masses from visiting. Because of the logistics many people who do want to visit Bhutan, end up having difficulty finding reliable information about it.

You can watch the video above and read the summary below for the most common questions.

Yes, There Really Is A Fee

There’s a $100 a day Sustainability Development Fee (SDF) charged of all foreigners (except for a much reduced version for Indian citizens). You pay the SDF when you apply for the visa, which is around $60 on its own. (It has an infamous 500 error.) You can then book your flights and make the arrangements for a trip and I recommend you look for flights first. (Don’t book just yet.) Bhutan has only one international airport in Paro (here’s where to stay) with only two national carriers flying there – Bhutan Airlines and DrukAir.

There are only flights from a few countries in the region, like India and Thailand, so make sure to have a good idea of your route first as the journey may be longer than you initially anticipated.

A Guide Is Required

There is a lot of confusion about this requirement online and the video above goes in depth. Briefly though, yes, you do need a guide to visit Bhutan with you at all times. Enforcement varies but basically, to enter many of the major tourist sites and temples, a guide is required. You’ll need one to enter any parks too. It’s a requirement Bhutan has in place to protect tourists from the difficult terrain and unpredictable weather.

You can watch these videos to see how the guide requirement is put into practice at various locations. Although technically required, you’ll be able to grab dinner in town without a guide or go to a shop on your own with issues in most cases.

The Bhutanese Department of Tourism has a list of licensed guides though you may also want to hire a licensed driver as well. Sometimes those two overlap but in other cases, you’ll need to hire two people to get around the country.

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In some parts of the world mugging and pickpocketing is a common, advanced art (like slash attacks). With most people unsuspecting, big cities like Paris, Rome, and London can become easy hunting grounds for thieves. All of their tricks have counters though that they do not want you to know about.

Here’s how to handle your cash to thwart even the best of pickpockets.

Diversify

A tactic so simple it’s amazing more people don’t do it – distribute your cash in multiple places. Use your wallet, other pocket, socks, or money belt so that all of your money is not in one place. That way if you get robbed, there are limited loses from a successful pickpocketing. Keep your smallest amounts easily accessible and the larger sums in harder to get places. Carry only what you need and don’t keep it all in one place.

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Use The Fold, Luke

Rather than keeping your cash in one big wad, break it up into folds of ones, fives, tens, and other denominations. This way, even if everything is in a single pocket, you can take only a small portion of it out. (Watch the video above to see this demonstrated.) Clever cash folds are another way to lessen the impact of any single, successful theft. Using folds also means you don’t have to take all of your cash out every time for each purchase, when you might only need a small amount. Pickpockets are watching so be careful not to display your valuables.

Decoy The Day Away

In some places it might be worth carrying a decoy wallet loaded with some decoy cards. You can find these sold at just a few dollars and they make a convincing piece of bait for a pickpocket or mugger. They’re effective for times you do have to hand over your purse or empty your pockets in a short time or when confronted. Keep a small amount of cash in your decoy and part with it quickly, knowing the real valuables are still with you.

The post The Cash Tricks Muggers Don’t Want You To Know About appeared first on foXnoMad.

MAny travlers have a false sense of security when they enter an airport completely dropping common sense at the sliding doors. Hopefully that changes after you watch the video above where TSA agents were caught but only after stealing over $1,000 a day from the security line.

What You Can Do

The first step is to be aware that airport thefts can happen and you should be as cautious as you would at any public, crowded place. Pickpockets and other thieves also travel so don’t spread out your things at the gate or charging station without a high degree of awareness. Corrupt TSA agents are another threat because most people don’t suspect them. (Plus they police themselves.) To deal with the security line, you need to prepare.

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Advanced Security

Pack the things in your pockets, wallet, phone, watch, all deep inside of your carry on and do this before you get to the security line. That way the TSA agents won’t know what’s in your bags and it’s a lot more difficult for them to do a quick grab. Never leave your valuables, cash, wallet, or phone out in the open in a bin by itself.

Stuff a jacket on top of your things inside of your backpack and if you want to go an extra step, you can hide things in zippered pockets. Speaking of those, zip up your backpack as it goes through the security line.

Streamlining

In the video above you’ll see a process I call streamlining. This is basically black belt levels of travel preparation you can use to protect your valuables and even get through the security line faster than you have been. None of these strategies on their own will completely prevent theft but when combined, many you’re less likely to be a target. Stay with your things as you go through the security line, use your eyes, and hide what you want to protect.

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