Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
for whom you would normally open the door. In the United States, thou-
sands of people are robbed, raped, or worse every year because they open
their doors for people they don't know. Overseas you are at a greater dis-
advantage. In the United States, you at least have an idea what the person
reading the gas meter should look like. Abroad you probably will have no
idea. Americans know that the FedEx delivery person will be driving a
marked truck and be in uniform. Even in the United States, where offi-
cial mail carriers use personal vehicles, they will still be in uniform. If they
are not, you need to ask a lot of questions before opening the door. What
is the standard uniform and vehicle for delivery people in Thailand? What
about Jordan, Malaysia, or Russia? This is why you should avoid receiving
deliveries at home. Get them at work. If they must be delivered to the
home, always make sure that you are expecting a delivery before opening
the door. If not, with the door closed, ask the delivery person for his or
her office number and verify whether the individual is legitimate. Do not
accept deliveries if you don't know who sent them and certainly don't open
the door for anyone you are not expecting. Always ask to see identifica-
tion and ask for the number of their employer.
RECEIPT OF MAIL AND PACKAGES AT THE OFFICE
As we mentioned before, you should try, if at all possible, to have your mail
and parcels delivered to you at work. This generally will reduce the danger
of you being victimized by someone gaining entry to your home by posing
as a delivery person. But how can you avoid having a mail bomb or letter
containing a biohazard from smoothly passing through the office mail-
room and getting delivered to you at your desk? Is there a way to make
office mailrooms your first line of defense to protect against this type of
attack?
The answer, of course, is yes. You just need to systematically apply the
commonsense steps you would take at home to the office. In combination
with policy and procedures to handle mail properly, mailroom employees
need to be taught what to look for and how to determine which items get
delivered immediately, which need greater scrutiny, and which get re-
jected. Businesses are more likely to be able to afford technical equipment
that will allow for rapid assessment of a suspicious package. Items such as
X-ray machines and explosives detection equipment are available and may
be purchased for the mailroom. All of the companies that manufacture
