One of the hardest activities for those who are interested in going offshore is choosing safe offshore bank accounts as there are many websites and entities that claim to be banks when in all actuality they are not.  Most people look for anonymous accounts or numbered accounts.  These services in all reality are not provided by true offshore banks but rather they are provided by trust companies or offshore financial services companies.  If someone has less than US$2000 and they are willing to take a chance on loosing this money then they could consider one of these accounts.  Otherwise an individual with substantial funds (more than US$2000) should consider alternatives.  Offshore debit cards are often linked to these accounts and they are allowed or said to allow large sums of money to be loaded onto the card.  This is a serious matter as 99% of all offshore banks will not honor claims against the loss of funds on a debit card which has been lost, stolen, or misused.  Cards with a US$10,000 and up to US$25,000 maximum balance are dangerous to use or carry.   All of these services are offered by companies in which are loosely regulated in their jurisdictions of incorporation.  An offshore trust company which operates a “bank like” entity offering “offshore banking” services is not the same as a bank.  the regulations may permit the trust company to hold the funds if they are in doubt of their origin as well as they may fold and go under as their transactions are not regulated.  Trust agreements can easily be broken and due to the difficulty in filing suit against an offshore company, many will loose their money to these companies.  The other type of entity which often act like a bank is the offshore financial company.  Most offshore financial companies are now incorporated in Panama as well as New Zealand.  These companies do not offer security whatsoever as they are not required to place minimum deposits on central banks and their services can easily be confused with a real bank.  There is no protection guaranteed nor granted by the jurisdiction in which these companies are incorporated.  This leaves the door open to potential issues as well as problems when the company may have issues.  In most cases the management of these companies becomes greedy when they realize they have a large amount of money under their command.  This is then backed by the simple fact that you are using a service of a company which is not regulated and whether the company is an offshore company or not the parent jurisdiction can only provide limited assistance if any at all.  When an individual or a company is looking for an offshore bank account it is best to either use a qualified agent or introduce of a real bank which is duly licenced in the jurisdiction or go directly to the bank in order to establish the account.  In most cases there is no need to travel to the bank but there is a number of requirements that one must fulfill.  It is highly recommended that any and all of those interested in going offshore and protecting their personal privacy and freedom avoid the use of financial services companies as well as trust companies as offshore bank accounts.