Protect Your Privacy During a Move
Protect Your Privacy During a Move – It’s important to take steps to protect your privacy before, during and after a move. Here are some tips for protecting your privacy.
Moving can be a stressful process. While there is typically some excitement around moving to a new home, meeting a new milestone in life – or just starting fresh, for many, moving can also make them feel vulnerable – especially when you think about identity theft.
Targeted attacks on people’s private information is common today. Thieves are looking to piece together enough information to gain entry into accounts, commit fraud, steal money and even pretend to be someone else.
It’s scary out there.
That’s why it’s important to take steps to protect your privacy before, during and after a move.
Here are some tips on how to keep your personal information safe:
Don’t flaunt your move.
As much as it may be an exciting time in your life, it’s important that you don’t tell too many people you’re moving and the details about when. If you can’t avoid telling people, just give out your old address as a temporary one until you’ve moved into your new home. Once you have moved into the new place, then you can tell them about the new address and details. This will prevent bad actors from gaining access to the details or trying to set up accounts with the new information before you get a chance to. During this moving period your personally identifiable information can be carelessly shuffled from renters and buyers as well as contractors and others – so you have to be extra vigilant about protecting your privacy and this sensitive information.
Shred moving-related documents and sensitive materials.
If you’re moving, now is an excellent time to shred your old documents. While most of your possessions will be going into storage or a truck, you need to be aware that there are some things that you should not leave behind. If a thief gets their hands on these items, they could use them to steal your identity and financial security.
To ensure this doesn’t happen:
- Shred personal information like bank statements and credit card statements before you move. These documents contain sensitive data about where you’ve been spending money and what kinds of purchases you typically make; if they fall into the wrong hands, someone could use them for nefarious purposes (like fraud).
- Shred old bills that no longer need to be kept around—especially those with personal information printed on them.
Put a hold on your mail.
Another important step many overlook when it comes time to move is your mail. What happens to all this mail that’s trying to be delivered in between the time you travel from your old location to the new one?
Here’s tips you can do for protecting your privacy to make sure your mail is safe and secure:
- Put a hold on your mail at the post office. The best place to put any important letters is with the postal service, especially before you move. Have them hold onto any packages or letters that are bound for your address for as long as possible.
- Don’t leave anything in the mailbox.
- Keep sensitive documents out of the moving boxes. You may be tempted to stuff all those boxes going on the moving truck with old junk mail from years past just so they don’t take up space—but if you really want to protect yourself during this time, you should take the time to sort, shred and toss old mail and files.
Moving can be a stressful event. The last thing you want to do is let identity thieves get in the way of your move by stealing your personal information and using it for their own gain. By following these tips, we hope that you’ll feel confident about protecting yourself and bringing some joy back into this exciting time in your life.
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- Identity Fraud vs. Identity Theft: Know the Difference
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