Brits abroad have been warned about using hotel safes at holiday hotspots.
TikTok user who goes by the name Frank the Stagman on the video-sharing platform told fellow users that money left in safes isn’t “safe”.
He said he had been told “so many times” in Benidorm, Gran Canaria and Ibiza over the years that people have had money pinched from safes in resorts.
Frank added: “The strange thing is, is how do they do it because you put your code in or you have a key and, of course, the money just seems to disappear.”
The Brit suggested thieves won’t pilfer the entire contents of a hotel safe to avoid arousing suspicion, leading guests to report it to reception or even the police.
He claimed: “What they’re doing is taking a small amount out each time so you don’t notice and then that way they can keep coming back and doing that for the full duration of your holiday and all you’re gonna do is think, ‘Well I must have spent more money than I did last night’.”
But he went on to say a lot of people are more savvy and will realise they’ve not spent more money and have had cash taken from their safe.
Frank added: “How they do it is beyond me. It clearly has to be somebody that’s somebody that’s staff or somebody with a master key or somebody with a system to get into safes.”
He suggested thieves could go through scores of hotel room safes and net hundreds of euros if not more.
Frank warned: “You’ve got to stop this from happening. One way that I say to do this is to get a bit of paper and write down the amount of money you put in your safe.
“That way when you go into your safe next time, check the money against the amount you wrote down. If it’s different, go down to reception and start making a complaint.”
The Benidorm based expat said: “It’s going to be hard for you to prove it, I guess, but at the end of the day the more people making noise, the more people know about it, the more people will be more careful going to that hotel or maybe not going to that hotel and that way they’ll be forced to sort out the problem.”
He suggested leaving a note in the safe as suggested would act as a warning to anyone who manages to break into a hotel room safe that a guest is monitoring the amount inside.
Frank concluded: “Anyway… if you’re coming out to Benidorm [it’s] a fantastic place. This is not a problem in all hotels – it’s just some. But either way, it has to stop.”
Other advice on keeping your valuables safe while on holiday includes photographing precious items to prove to your hotel manager if something has gone missing.
As a general rule, you shouldn’t leave anything in your hotel room if you can’t afford to lose it, meaning you should carry your mobile phone, wallet and passport around with you.
An alternative to a hotel safe is a portable travel safe which can be securely attached to a fixed item in your room. Locking valuables inside your suitcase can also help prevent items being stolen.
This post was originally published on here
