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Experts warn more travelers this summer means more cybercrimes

Cybersecurity experts say to not let your digital guard down when on vacation this summer.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Everyone is ready for a summer vacation! About six in ten Americans are planning to go on one.

When you're out of town and out of the office, the last thing on your mind is probably cybersecurity, but as you know, criminals don't take time off.

Ron Pierce, President of Trinity Solutions Inc., said he believes there will be even more cybercrimes this summer because of the war in Ukraine and the sheer volume of travelers.

"That’s usually when we let our guards down is when we go on vacation. And that can be actually when we get ourselves into the most trouble," Pierce said.

Here are some key points Pierce said to keep in mind while traveling to stay digitally safe this summer.

If the place you're staying has a digital lock, ask if you can choose the code. Pierce said that way you'll know you're the only one with the code.

If you are watching any TV, make sure you log out of all devices before you leave. Pierce said people will often forget to sign out of their Netflix or Hulu accounts, especially in the kids' rooms.

Treat the Wi-Fi as public Wi-Fi. Pierce said don't do anything with banking unless you're using a hot spot from your personal phone.

Pay with a credit card, not a debit card. By using a credit card, Pierce said you can dispute any fraudulent charges and cancel things much easier.

Lastly, always be aware of hidden cameras.

"There are apps on the App Store that you can just do a search for hidden camera detector. It will download an app on your phone and will use your phone that you can just walk around the facility and if it senses something that’s lighting up the spectrum in regard to Wi-Fi or electromagnetic it will post it. It will sit there and ping it and tell you, hey, there’s something here," Pierce said.

You can also try to detect devices with Bluetooth.

"You can turn the Bluetooth and tell it to scan, look for devices and walk around the facility as well and it will tell you if there are any devices that are Bluetooth enabled that you didn’t know about. Because a lot of security cameras use Wi-Fi to report itself, but it uses Bluetooth in order to set itself up and most people do not turn the Bluetooth off. So you can actually find just about any hidden camera just using your cell phone," Pierce said.

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