Even if you are prepared, having read everything well on the forums and travel guides, when you are victim of theft, everything rushes in and you get a bit lost
Having faced the complete disappearance of my beloved belongings, including my backpack, here are a few tips for before and after the disaster.
To do before the disaster
1 – Not to be missed: make digital copies
Make a scan (a simple photo may suffice) of all your important papers and documents: passport, identity card, permit, credit card, invoices for your insured or guaranteed objects, plane tickets, etc.
Send them to your own email address or Messenger, Google, Drive, Cloud… and to a trusted friend. In case of disappearance, simply log on to your mailbox to find them.
Why send this list to a trusted friend?
Because you won’t be sure to be able to use the internet! Your computer and/or phone are gone! Using someone’s laptop or computer for a while may not be possible either. Sending a message via social media won’t take much time. This trusted person will have access to your accounts in case of an emergency and will be able to help you. He or she can send important documents to the embassy, file an objection, etc.
2 – Keep a copy of all these scanned documents with you
On a USB key, an SD card that you will keep in your toiletry bag, on a key ring, no matter but far from the objects generally coveted by thieves. You may no longer be able to use a computer or smartphone to retrieve your important papers. In all countries you can have documents printed from a USB stick.
3 – Create a document containing your important information
Panic and shock sometimes make it difficult to remember a password or phone number.
- In this document make a paragraph IN CASE OF THEFT with the numbers to call and a plan of action.
- The most important information : Full credit card number, bank account, passport number with date and place of issue, identity card number, licence number with date of issue, blood group.
- A copy or export of all your telephone contacts. If your phone disappears, so do your friends’ numbers!
- The information of your electronic, computer, photographic equipment (even lenses): name of the model, the Imei number of your Iphone, serial number, everything!
- Don’t forget to put also your personal information: surname and all your first names, date of birth, complete address, phone number and email address. This information will be requested when you make a phone call to the bank or insurances. If you are not able to call yourself because you are alone with your camel in the middle of the desert, your trusted friend will to whom you have sent this document will need these informations.
- Also include all the useful telephone numbers: general insurance, health insurance, bank, emergency contact numbers, etc.
- Write down all your passwords and login details. Once again, emotion and panic can make you lose your head… and your memory.
- Moreover, if you have not asked your favourite browser to save the passwords, you will have to reset everything! And that, at the risk of not being able to connect at all!
- Save your music playlist regularly, it would be a shame to lose everything! Create this list and, as with document scans, post it to your own mailbox and to a friend’s mailbox.
These days this is not recommended, but those who give this advice don’t have 50 different passwords and 50 different identifiers to remember… or else they’re aliens!
4 – Connecting to your email accounts
Security is at the heart of the concerns of those who manage your mailbox. You’ve probably already noticed it: when you connect from another country or with another computer you sometimes receive an “unusual connection” alert email. This message often goes no further than that, but… Sometimes this provider asks you to authenticate yourself with an SMS code that they send you at the speed of sound to prove that it is really you.
And where is your mobile phone? Mmmmmm? In the thief’s pocket!
You currently have no way to receive this damned SMS and you cannot connect to your account! No mail, no codes, no number, no money! Impossible to negotiate with the machine! So make sure that the validation of your identity is done by another means than the reception of a code by SMS, as on another email address for example. Select the option “enter your recovery email address” and try before you leave!
5 – Make regular backups of your photos, documents and contacts (phone and PC)
Google Drive, Cloud, Flickr, Facebook, Dropbox…
6 – Keep cash in different places
Spread the cash around if you have a lot of it: shoes, toothpaste tube, soap box, clothing lining, backpack, wallet…
7 – Create a Western Union account online
To receive some money, you’ll need Western Union, you’ll save time!
8- Check all of your bank insurance
Visa or Mastercard insurance: Check with your beloved banker before you leave and take extra options in case of theft if you are travelling with expensive equipment. If they are new or recent, it may be worth investing in theft insurance.Whatever this insurance is, make sure you are clear about its terms.
Why send this list to a trusted friend?
Because you won’t be sure you can use the internet! Your computer and/or phone are gone! Using someone’s laptop or computer for a while may not be possible either. This trusted person will have access to your accounts in case of an emergency and will be able to help you. He or she can send important documents to the embassy, stop the credit card etc.
What to do after the disaster
Here you are alone, trembling and distraught in front of the broken down door of your room: everything is gone… Panic! Scream! Afterwards, you will still be as desperate but calmer when faced with the often ineffective, dragging and corrupt police force.
9 – Make an inventory
Find pencil and paper and make a list of what was taken from you, don’t leave out anything: glasses, perfume or bag…
Take your time and check. What is not on the theft report will not be reimbursed and if by some miracle the thief is found, you will only get back what you reported stolen! Moreover, this information can help to find the thief. Also think about documents such as an identity card or driving licence. They should be noted on the theft report that you will have to send to the services to obtain new identity papers. Otherwise, it will be complicated.
10 – Go to the police and make your theft report
The officers will write down and record everything (if they have a computer, this is not always the case…). Ask to see this list and correct it if necessary. Your insurer may refuse to activate the theft coverage if he sees a suspicious scribble or BENAQ instead of PENTAX.
Once this declaration is registered, they are obliged to give you a receipt for filing a theft claim.
This paper is your holy grail. Without it, the best ambassador in the world will not be able to issue you your pass or emergency passport that will allow you to fly or cross any border. So don’t leave the police station without this document.
11 – Stay calm at the police station
And it’s sometimes hard to face their phlegm, their contempt. If you get angry, they are likely to be even less collaborative and the situation will get worse!
12 – Call your embassy
We are lucky to be a citizen of our beloved country. Sometimes you have to be in trouble abroad to realise this!
To avoid any complications, before you leave, note in your list the telephone number and address of this ambassy, it will be your sanctuary.
They will guide you and translate if you do not understand the language of the country. But above all: they can alert the diplomatic police who will support you at the police station. When my room was burglarized, it took me 4 days to get my theft report receipt. When the diplomatic police got involved, it suddenly went a lot faster.
If I am not a specialist in travel problems, I have had more than once the opportunity to see these officials at work to help French nationals. They have always shown benevolence, patience and have deployed all the means at their disposal to support French people in difficult situations (except giving them money, but there, don’t exagerate).
13 – Stop your credit card
By phone! You have noted this number in your administrative and financial survival document (advice no. 3 of the Before the disaster).
Not all countries have a direct and free line that allows you to call them directly … and you may be in that country or in an Amazonian village surrounded by crocodiles. Ask a friend to call for you from your country or elsewhere and make the declaration for you. You will have to provide him/her with your surname, first names, date and place of birth, postal address and of course the number of the stolen card, but you have already done this since you have followed tips 1 and 3 of the Before.
Think twice before stopping your credit card!
Before making a stop payment, do everything you have to do with your credit card. After the cancellation, you will no longer be able to book an emergency flight ticket or pay for a hotel.
14 – You are penniless, homeless and desperate: a money transfer will save you!
If you are still able to prove your identity and you are without money and without a credit card: send yourself money by Western Union via internet before stopping your credit card. A cash transfer can only be done with a Ccredit card (and you have noted its number before). If you cannot show proof of identity, ask someone you trust to be your recipient. This person will of course have to present “valid” documents but also give all the information related to the transfer.
Write them down carefully, without them you will not be able to withdraw anything. They are :
- Tracking number (MTCN) that you receive when you make the transfer.
- Name and Address of the recipient (so you if you can prove your identity, otherwise a trusted friend)
- Expected amount (very important)
- Sender’s name
- The city and country of the sender
15- Go to the embassy
The documents needed to obtain a pass, an emergency passport and a flight certificate (which will enable you to have your papers redone) are :
- A copy of your passport, missing or not (tip n°1)
- Receipt of the complaint (tip no. 10)
- Two special passport photos
- … and money in cash and local currency cause depending of your country, you may have to pay for the service!
Yes you read correctly, the pass or the emergency passport are not free of charge. In pro’s language this is called “paying chancery duty”. This amount varies from one country to another as well as the validity of these documents (from one month to… 2 years). If you are staying in a foreign country for a long time, it is worth calling your embassy to find out these details.
But in any case, calculate this expense in the Western Union transfer, otherwise you will have to do it again.
I didn’t know at all that I had to pay for the pass and I was very close to presenting myself to the Consul with 10 kwatchas in my pocket (that’s 62 euro cents). I had to call my beloved friend again so that she send me another Western Union transfer and find another beloved and trusted friend on the spot to get the money back… Not easy ! Add the heat, the absolute disregard of the police (they didn’t even have a pen to write with), the attempts at extortion (I’ll find the thief if you give me money) and the fatigue…
16- Be prepared: boarding at the airport with a piece of paper as pass can take much longer than expected
When you fly again or cross a land border, take a paper copy of your stolen passport with you, it will make it easier to pass through immigration and check-in. If, like me, you are unlucky enough to be robbed in a country like Zambia, be aware that the officers in charge of checking your papers at check-in desk and in the migration area may not know what to do with your very expensive new pass: anything that doesn’t look like an official passport is of no value to them!
It was necessary for the Consul to accompany me! I was madly lucky because he offered to take me to the airport and stayed with me through all the checkpoints. This was very useful because, fearing that I stayed longer than the initial duration of the visa (30 days in that country), I visited at least 3 offices in the airport! If beloved Mr Consul hadn’t been there to reassure everyone, I would have probably missed my plane.
17- Once back in your country, celebrate civilization… and come back to the cash desk…
The embassy has issued you with a certificate of theft declaration: this document is essential for the renewal of your papers: permit, identity card or passport. But you will still have to pay the renewal fee!
That’s all you can cope with this violation, this terrible feeling of being stripped of what is dear to you, the horrible sensation of being naked and raped… the painful bite of injustice, the non-existent justice of the country that stole you… HHHHHHHHHHHH!.. ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHH (cries of suffering)…
Put it into perspective!
You are not Syrian or Rwandan, you still have your brain, you are a citizen of a civilised country and somewhere in the hexagon, there is at least one trusted friend who supports you. You have your two legs, your two arms, you are neither ill nor seriously injured?
Re-la-ti-vi-se! Please note that most people are benevolent. You will surely be surprised by the solidarity you can count on when you only have €1.60 left in your pocket. You’re whole, alive and healthy… the journey will continue later!
Being prepared for any eventuality is a good thing, but don’t become paranoid
Take time to get organised before you leave. Alas, this is no protection against thieves. But being prepared helps a lot!Talk about it with your friend who you have designated to be the keeper of your information and the one who will save you when you are in trouble. Make sure you haven’t left out any details and that he or she will be able to react without any problems.
Need more informations to be good prepared ?
Being robbed is painful but getting sick, having an accident is even more tragic!
Is it worth taking out expensive and perhaps useless insurance for this great journey? Some advice to think about it it doesn’t hurt…
