What do you do if you are traveling overseas alone and your fears come true: You are mugged in the main square, the theater entrance or, as befell Julian W. Peterson of Boston, on the Copacabana beach in Rio? Your money is gone, along with your credit cards, passport, traveler`s checks and identification.
Peterson suffered chips on his thumb bone. He had medical bills as well as hotel bills, and his non-refundable ticket home was outdated.
After his thumb was treated and he got back to his hotel, he made a collect call to a friend at home and asked him to wire $1,500 to a local bank. So far as he could learn, the money never got there, although he discovered later that it had arrived at another bank.
After this failure, and with the hotel pressing for payment, he went to the U.S. Consulate, and there he learned about the Overseas Citizens Service of the State Department, which has a channel through which people in the United States may send emergency money to the nearest embassy or consulate to be disbursed to a stranded American.
In addition to getting cash, and a new passport, which is also a function of the embassy or consulate, most people in these circumstances need a replacement credit card, and this presents certain problems if all
identification is gone.
Here is a roundup of information on available steps.
State Department conduit
The State Department`s Overseas Citizens Service can transmit money to an embassy or consulate in a city overseas where an American in an emergency needs it. Relatives or friends send the money to Washington by credit card charge through Western Union, in the form of a cashier`s check or money order (by Western Union or by overnight mail) or bank wire transfer; personal checks are not accepted. Citizens overseas often receive the amount, in local currency, the next day.
The State Department charges $15 for the transmission, and various other charges for Western Union, banks and messages are involved, as noted below.
The victim overseas usually starts the process by calling a friend or relative at home for help. If the call is placed at the embassy, the following steps can be explained by personnel on the spot.
Otherwise, the relative at home can call the State Department emergency service at 202-647-5225 (there is no 800 number) between 8:15 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and get these details.
With a Visa or MasterCard credit card, Western Union may be used by phone, 800-325-6000 or 800-325-4176. Without either credit card, the process should be carried out in person.
Either way, the relative tells Western Union he or she wants to buy a money order for the desired amount, plus the $15 charge. On the phone, Western Union has a format for the details. The money and message are addressed to Overseas Citizens Service, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20520.
If a credit card is used, Western Union fees start at $21 for transmitting $50; $50 for $500 and $85 for $1,500. In person, using cash or a bank check, the fees are somewhat less: $13 for $50; $40 for $500 and so forth. There is also a charge for the message.
If the bank can manage it, wire transmission is simpler because the money goes straight from the bank and not through the credit card with its interest charges. But you may not want to wait if the call for help comes outside banking hours.
The bank should be asked to wire the desired amount, plus $40 (the State Department`s $15, plus a Washington bank charge of $25) to the American Security Bank, Branch 20, Room 1442, 2201 C St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520
(ABA 054000551). Its phone number is 202-624-4750.
The check is to be made payable to Department of State, and the name and overseas city of the recipient specified. The local bank should be told that this money is not for deposit at American Security but simply is being sent to a bank in the State Department building.
The slowest route is to send a cashier`s check or money order payable to the Department of State for the desired amount plus $15 by express mail.
A letter should give the sender`s name, address and phone number and the name and overseas city of the person in the emergency.
The envelope should be addressed to Overseas Citizen Services, CA/OCS/
EMR, Room 4800, Department of State, 2201 C St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520.
Replacing credit cards
If credit cards are lost along with money, the problem has an added dimension. The company needs to be notified as quickly as possible that the card has been stolen, and a new one needs to be obtained, probably without benefit of passport or other identification.
The credit card companies all have their own methods and phone numbers to give this help. American Express, because it has 1,700 storefront offices worldwide, probably is listed in the local phone book.
MasterCard gold and business card-holders are told to use 800-622-7747 worldwide, which users are supposed to memorize as 800 MC ASSIST. Other MasterCard holders are told to turn to the nearest of the 1,600 Thomas Cook travel offices. According to Christoph Apt, a Visa vice president, the company has an emergency guide listing phone numbers.
Will the credit card company provide money to a card-holder who no longer has a card? If no local law prevents it, American Express will cash a check for up to $200 once you are identified, probably through questions checked against your computer profile.
If you have no checks with you, the company will provide a counter check. For the bank cards you may have to wait for the delivery of a replacement card, although local affiliates of your home bank might help out. Visa and MasterCard say they can get a replacement card to you outside the United States within two days.
It makes life easier if you have recorded your credit card number, but not in the same place you keep the card. If your hotel took an imprint of your credit card when you checked in, this is one place where the number of the vanished card is recorded.
Where a bank card was used, the hotel sometimes will add a cash advance to the bill, although once the report of the card`s theft enters the computer, which is in a half an hour, the hotel will not be able to process the charge. However, Marianne Fulgenzi, a MasterCard spokeswoman, said that if the theft is reported directly to a Thomas Cook office, a new number can be given there and a cash advance provided.
A few expedients: Do not carry all your eggs in one basket; keep a small amount of money in a leg or neck pouch. Take a copy of the information page of your passport, as well as the numbers on your credit cards and emergency access numbers, plus the record on any traveler`s checks, and tape these into a plastic bag to leave in the hotel safe. Leave another copy with someone at home who can read it to you.
