Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
directed never to speak with someone they do not know. Telephone scams
are common in every country. Beware of people posing as official per-
sonnel, such as police or utility employees from the phone corporation.
Another good practice to follow is to avoid being picked up or
dropped off by local car service drivers at your exact residence. Both of
the authors make this a habit even here in the United States. You never
know who will be operating the cab. Ilan was very sensitive to this prac-
tice while working as an agent at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.
On one occasion, a livery service driver picked up Ilan and his wife at the
airport. Ilan noticed that the driver was from a country with unfriendly
relations to Israel. Rather than expose his Israeli accent, he chose to let
his wife talk to the driver and had the driver drop them off several blocks
away from their home. If you get into a cab and you feel uncomfortable
for any reason, do not get brought directly home. Perhaps you have an
argument with the driver during the trip or suspect he is from a country
with no sympathy for persons of your nationality. Whatever the reason for
your discomfiture, it is a good idea to keep your address unknown and ask
to be dropped somewhere else.
WARDEN SYSTEMS
A final and very important point to follow is for you to maintain close ties
to the embassy or consulate in your country of residence. Local embassies
are beginning to operate e-mail service to Americans residing in their area
of responsibility. Simply subscribe to the service and you will receive secu-
rity updates as they become available. An example of such a listing is
shown below; it is from the U.S. Embassy in Germany. Expatriate Ameri-
cans residing in Germany can subscribe to this service.
All Americans in Germany are invited to join a new public service of the Amer-
ican Embassy in Germany. This new service allows you to receive up-to-date
public announcements and travel warnings that may have a direct impact on
your safety and security.
U.S. embassies and consulates overseas traditionally use warden systems to
transmit important public announcements and travel warnings to Americans
abroad. Public announcements are a means to disseminate information about ter-
rorist threats and other relatively short-term and/or trans-national conditions
posing significant risks to the security of American travelers. In the past, public
