The Wild Rover
10-15-05, 03:16 PM
OK...so you got the job, you've said goodbye to everyone at home, and you are about to leave the house, but wait a minute....
How are you gonna spend money, and most importantly, how are you going to get it, while overseas. And what about the paycheck?
You will have to set up with the contractor a way of transferring your paycheck to your bank account, usually with a savings or checking account bank routing number attached to your savings deposit slip, or a voided personal check sent to the contractors accounting office. This is usually in "the package", but double check everything is correct BEFORE you leave. DO NOT HAVE THEM MAIL YOUR PAYCHECK IF YOU CAN DO IT ELECTRONICALLY!!!
We all have countless stories about the paycheck never reaching the account, or the guy had the check mailed to the house, and the wife is seeing a friend named Raul " only on the weekends, and she doesn't know where the money went". If you have to, set up a private account at the bank in your name only, and transfer funds as needed via the internet to another account so the woman that rides the broom doesn't bleed you dry.
Some contractors will pay you a "Draw" on site. A draw is a withdrawl from your weekly or monthly paycheck, paid to you before the money is electronically deposited to your account. This affords you spending money, and you can choose the amount. This works great, but ask for dollars or euro's, as I have seen the local currency crash, and craftsmen left with 100,000 worthless rubles.
Some contractors actually have their shit together, and have arranged the use of the cashiers window to cash American bank checks cashed at the Embassy...this will allow you access to the good ol' Greenback, making the use of the money exchange kiosks better for the exchange rate, but in all my experience lately, the Euro rules...
Don't bounce a check, and ruin it for all of us, because you will be the on the next plane, and the idiot we will talk about for years to come.
NEVER, EVER, change money on the open street. You will get mugged, ripped off, or worse, arrested. IT IS ILLEGAL IN EVERY COUNTRY!!! You do not want to wake up in the Hoosekow in Lagos Nigeria. You will never see daylight again, and you will be raped repeatedly. NO BULLSHIT. Don't be the idiot we all talk about years later. We all remember.
Never, EVER, count your money where street people can see you.
Never, EVER, let a police officer see your money, or count it for you, or check it for authenticity.
Never, EVER, let the kiosk people have all your money to exchange, because they will steal it from you too.
Before you go out on the street, secretly mark all your bills with the same squiggle in a discreet part of the bill. DO THIS IN YOUR ROOM, not the hotel bar.
Go to the exchange kiosk as a GROUP!!!
The kiosk person will check your bill, usually below eyesite and with a black light below the counter, and sometimes they will be reluctant to exchange the bill for local currency. Here comes the switch... They dropped yours, and grabbed a bogus bill!
When the kiosk people say your bill from the embassy or the bill you received on your First Communion from Uncle Jimmy is counterfiet, they will will toss a bogus bill back to you. CHECK FOR THE SQUIGGLE!!! If no squiggle, you've been duped. Show him a few of your smaller denominations with the squiggles, and demand your original bill back. OR.. SHOW HIM THE SQUIGGLE BEFORE YOU EXCHANGE!! You may cause a scene, and most will gladly give you the original bill back claiming some error to avoid the authorities. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, and inform the RSO of the embassy so others can avoid the scam. You can also buy a money pen at K-Mart before you leave, so you know the American bills you have are authentic. Make your squiggle with one of these in front of the kiosk personell.
It is best to go in a group ALWAYS, and to use a kiosk where you can see your money at all times. Watch a few exchanges, and decide what is right for you.
On the smaller jobs, you will need credit cards, and an ATM card...
Below are some credit card and ATM card tips...
These tips apply equally to when I travel abroad to when I am at home. Remember that all someone needs is your number, of course a little more information is sometimes required but problems can begin with just a credit card number so the first guide to safety is ensuring you stay with your card at all times, and watch how it is used. This can be difficult to do, but it really is the only way to help prevent the loss of your card details.
Keep details of your credit card, the number, security number, date of expiration etc. somewhere safe and separate from your wallet, and keep a copy of this information when you travel. Also make a note of the emergency telephone numbers that credit card companies offer in case your card is lost or stolen, check if they have a local office in the destination you are travelling to. If your card is lost or stolen call the company immediately to report it.
Safe guard your receipts and DESTROY the carbon copies. This may seem over the top but I actually recommend keeping the receipts and carbons in a safe place so you can accurately compare them with the statements you receive and shred the rest. People committing credit card fraud and identity theft often rummage through dumpsters and letter boxes. There are a lot of desperate people in this world, and you WILL see people eating from the dumpsters...the will find your info, trust me. Shred the info at the embassy or jobsite shredder, or shred it yourself, and flush it in sections down the toilet.
I had an Ivorian piece of shit at the hotel I was residing at in Abidjan make a mistake on the credit card receipt, pocket it, make a new form, and then went on a spending spree in France. I caught him, but I had to be issued a new card. It took several weeks, but I saved all the info, so I was safe.
If possible, some companies will issue you a corporate card. Be well aware, no shennanagins will take place, as they hire people to pay these bills. We all have stories of guys on the liquor dog, stoooopid kill me weekends drunk, and their lives are ruined as a result of thinking with their small heads and company credit cards. Again, don't be the idiot we all talk about for years to come.
NEVER give out any details about anything to anyone who has called you. If you know the company, ring them back on the general number to make sure that the person calling truly does work for that company.
Always check the amount twice when signing, anyone can make a mistake be it intentionally or by accident. ALWAYS GET RECEIPTS!!!
Always check your billing statement promptly to check there are no suspicious charges. Do it online, at the secure embassy TDY computers if possible. If there are, report it immediately to the credit card company.
Only use an ATM machine you recognise on your card, from a very visible bank, street and machine... skimmers are available that allow people to copy all your card details in seconds. If in doubt use cash. Watch a few exchanges first.
Always hide you pin number input, and put a limited amount of money in your account. There was a story going around Mexico while I was there.
"Some individuals disguised themselves as a taxi service, only to take the unsuspecting tourist to an undisclosed spot, beat him senseless, take his ATM card, beat the pin number out of him, and hold him until the account was dry. If you have over $10,000.00 dollars in your account, you will be gone a long time...if they let you go, amigo.
Ensure from your bank BEFORE YOU LEAVE that you can only recieve $100-$500 dollars a day from the ATM account. Set your limit, and live by it, and that should be enough for the week...unless you run with me, but that is why I am happily married now, and a story for another time.
The Wild Rover
How are you gonna spend money, and most importantly, how are you going to get it, while overseas. And what about the paycheck?
You will have to set up with the contractor a way of transferring your paycheck to your bank account, usually with a savings or checking account bank routing number attached to your savings deposit slip, or a voided personal check sent to the contractors accounting office. This is usually in "the package", but double check everything is correct BEFORE you leave. DO NOT HAVE THEM MAIL YOUR PAYCHECK IF YOU CAN DO IT ELECTRONICALLY!!!
We all have countless stories about the paycheck never reaching the account, or the guy had the check mailed to the house, and the wife is seeing a friend named Raul " only on the weekends, and she doesn't know where the money went". If you have to, set up a private account at the bank in your name only, and transfer funds as needed via the internet to another account so the woman that rides the broom doesn't bleed you dry.
Some contractors will pay you a "Draw" on site. A draw is a withdrawl from your weekly or monthly paycheck, paid to you before the money is electronically deposited to your account. This affords you spending money, and you can choose the amount. This works great, but ask for dollars or euro's, as I have seen the local currency crash, and craftsmen left with 100,000 worthless rubles.
Some contractors actually have their shit together, and have arranged the use of the cashiers window to cash American bank checks cashed at the Embassy...this will allow you access to the good ol' Greenback, making the use of the money exchange kiosks better for the exchange rate, but in all my experience lately, the Euro rules...
Don't bounce a check, and ruin it for all of us, because you will be the on the next plane, and the idiot we will talk about for years to come.
NEVER, EVER, change money on the open street. You will get mugged, ripped off, or worse, arrested. IT IS ILLEGAL IN EVERY COUNTRY!!! You do not want to wake up in the Hoosekow in Lagos Nigeria. You will never see daylight again, and you will be raped repeatedly. NO BULLSHIT. Don't be the idiot we all talk about years later. We all remember.
Never, EVER, count your money where street people can see you.
Never, EVER, let a police officer see your money, or count it for you, or check it for authenticity.
Never, EVER, let the kiosk people have all your money to exchange, because they will steal it from you too.
Before you go out on the street, secretly mark all your bills with the same squiggle in a discreet part of the bill. DO THIS IN YOUR ROOM, not the hotel bar.
Go to the exchange kiosk as a GROUP!!!
The kiosk person will check your bill, usually below eyesite and with a black light below the counter, and sometimes they will be reluctant to exchange the bill for local currency. Here comes the switch... They dropped yours, and grabbed a bogus bill!
When the kiosk people say your bill from the embassy or the bill you received on your First Communion from Uncle Jimmy is counterfiet, they will will toss a bogus bill back to you. CHECK FOR THE SQUIGGLE!!! If no squiggle, you've been duped. Show him a few of your smaller denominations with the squiggles, and demand your original bill back. OR.. SHOW HIM THE SQUIGGLE BEFORE YOU EXCHANGE!! You may cause a scene, and most will gladly give you the original bill back claiming some error to avoid the authorities. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, and inform the RSO of the embassy so others can avoid the scam. You can also buy a money pen at K-Mart before you leave, so you know the American bills you have are authentic. Make your squiggle with one of these in front of the kiosk personell.
It is best to go in a group ALWAYS, and to use a kiosk where you can see your money at all times. Watch a few exchanges, and decide what is right for you.
On the smaller jobs, you will need credit cards, and an ATM card...
Below are some credit card and ATM card tips...
These tips apply equally to when I travel abroad to when I am at home. Remember that all someone needs is your number, of course a little more information is sometimes required but problems can begin with just a credit card number so the first guide to safety is ensuring you stay with your card at all times, and watch how it is used. This can be difficult to do, but it really is the only way to help prevent the loss of your card details.
Keep details of your credit card, the number, security number, date of expiration etc. somewhere safe and separate from your wallet, and keep a copy of this information when you travel. Also make a note of the emergency telephone numbers that credit card companies offer in case your card is lost or stolen, check if they have a local office in the destination you are travelling to. If your card is lost or stolen call the company immediately to report it.
Safe guard your receipts and DESTROY the carbon copies. This may seem over the top but I actually recommend keeping the receipts and carbons in a safe place so you can accurately compare them with the statements you receive and shred the rest. People committing credit card fraud and identity theft often rummage through dumpsters and letter boxes. There are a lot of desperate people in this world, and you WILL see people eating from the dumpsters...the will find your info, trust me. Shred the info at the embassy or jobsite shredder, or shred it yourself, and flush it in sections down the toilet.
I had an Ivorian piece of shit at the hotel I was residing at in Abidjan make a mistake on the credit card receipt, pocket it, make a new form, and then went on a spending spree in France. I caught him, but I had to be issued a new card. It took several weeks, but I saved all the info, so I was safe.
If possible, some companies will issue you a corporate card. Be well aware, no shennanagins will take place, as they hire people to pay these bills. We all have stories of guys on the liquor dog, stoooopid kill me weekends drunk, and their lives are ruined as a result of thinking with their small heads and company credit cards. Again, don't be the idiot we all talk about for years to come.
NEVER give out any details about anything to anyone who has called you. If you know the company, ring them back on the general number to make sure that the person calling truly does work for that company.
Always check the amount twice when signing, anyone can make a mistake be it intentionally or by accident. ALWAYS GET RECEIPTS!!!
Always check your billing statement promptly to check there are no suspicious charges. Do it online, at the secure embassy TDY computers if possible. If there are, report it immediately to the credit card company.
Only use an ATM machine you recognise on your card, from a very visible bank, street and machine... skimmers are available that allow people to copy all your card details in seconds. If in doubt use cash. Watch a few exchanges first.
Always hide you pin number input, and put a limited amount of money in your account. There was a story going around Mexico while I was there.
"Some individuals disguised themselves as a taxi service, only to take the unsuspecting tourist to an undisclosed spot, beat him senseless, take his ATM card, beat the pin number out of him, and hold him until the account was dry. If you have over $10,000.00 dollars in your account, you will be gone a long time...if they let you go, amigo.
Ensure from your bank BEFORE YOU LEAVE that you can only recieve $100-$500 dollars a day from the ATM account. Set your limit, and live by it, and that should be enough for the week...unless you run with me, but that is why I am happily married now, and a story for another time.
The Wild Rover