Not many people realise this but when you’re paying for your shopping at the duty-free zone in the airport and hand over your travel documents to the cashier, it's not just for fun. Yes, somewhere, somehow, all your information goes into the system, but how much of your personal information is printed on the actual receipt — that same little piece of paper that you’ve thoughtlessly thrown away countless times?

You’ll think twice about trashing these receipts when you realise just how much of your confidential information is shown on some of them. In the worst-case scenario, you could be putting yourself at risk of identity theft. This is what travellers around the world are now worried about, thanks to one man’s cautionary video which recently went viral.

Traveller Colin Ahearn was en route to Phuket and transited in Kuala Lumpur recently. He bought a bottle of Wild Turkey American Honey Liqueur and Smirnoff Red Label Vodka at a duty-free store in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and got a rude shock just as he was about to throw away his duty-free receipts. He discovered that his personal details were printed on his receipt — we’re talking full name, passport number, date of birth, nationality, flight details, and even his passport expiry date.

Colin, who hails from Perth, would have never known of this disconcerting fact had his wife, Trace, not stopped him from blindly throwing away his receipts. He then uploaded a video on Facebook to warn other travellers of the potential dangers of carelessly disposing of duty-free receipts, and the possibility of identity theft should your details end up in the wrong hands.

“Essentially, if someone goes through and finds that information, they’ve got your full passport details,” he said. “With just this one receipt and a quick scan of someone’s Facebook page, they could sign up for a mobile contract in your name, apply for credit cards and who knows what else?”

Do you love shopping for duty-free booze or make-up when you touch down at Changi Airport? Or maybe you really had to grab some Panadol just before boarding your flight. Before you get into full-on panic mode and regret carelessly binning all those duty-free receipts, just know that not all duty-free shops have all that passenger personal information on the receipts. Take the duty-free chains at Changi Airport, for instance.

A quick scan through past receipts from DFS Changi Airport shows that the passenger's passport number, nationality, and flight details are shown.

Meanwhile, at Shilla Duty Free, the passenger’s name, passport number, flight deets and nationality are included. When asked for further details, both Shilla Duty Free and DFS declined comment.

Similarly, the customer's name, nationality, passport number and flight details are included on receipts from Sprint-Cass, an electronics retailer at Changi Airport.

TL;DR: No matter where you are in the world, don’t throw away your duty-free receipts thoughtlessly — check them, destroy them, then bin them.

Photos: Unsplash, Facebook, Changi Airport Group, screenshots