Hiring reliable Charlotte movers, packing your belongings, transferring all your utilities to the new address – moving homes takes a lot of planning! During this time, it can be easy to oversee things, lose important paperwork, or leave delicate information behind, putting you and your family at risk.
Safeguarding your identity and valuables when you move is crucial to avoiding that. Here are some tips to help.
How to Prevent Identity Theft During a Move
1. Update Your Address
Submit a change of address form to the post office as soon as you can. This is crucial because it helps prevent your mail from going to the wrong recipients or becoming exposed in an unattended mailbox. Personal information found in a lot of mail can be used to perpetrate mail identity theft.
After you move, make sure to update your address for your banks, utility companies, doctor’s offices, and retirement accounts.
2. Keep All Important Documents With You
Suppose you have faith in your moving company. In that case, you can pack your documents in a box with several books of comparable size, and they will be delivered to your new house without any issues. People will believe the box only contains books, so there is little chance of someone stealing it.
This will save you the time it would take to go through each sheet of paper and determine which are disposable, still relevant, and necessary. But is it worth the risk? If it doesn’t make you feel calm, check carefully all your important paperwork and:
- Set aside everything related to the current relocation process, as you will most likely need it immediately.
- Sort and discard all unnecessary and out-of-date papers.
- Put all your important papers in a handy little bag that you can always keep in your possession.
3. Never Throw Documents in the Dumpster
Discarding redundant or unnecessary documents is important to avoid wasting money by transporting useless paperwork. However, be careful when disposing of these, as they may contain sensitive information, such as your credit card number, contact information, and other personal details.
To safeguard your family and yourself from identity theft, destroy all your unnecessary documents before discarding them. If you don’t have a document shredder, use a Sharpie pen to cover sensitive information.
If they obtain this information, con artists can easily commit fraud, take advantage of your rights (such as membership in a particular organization or medical insurance), or withdraw your money.
4. Monitor Your Credit Report After You Move
Although it is a good idea to monitor your credit report for indications of identity theft, this is particularly wise after you move. Things can easily slip through the cracks due to the chaos of moving, setting up your new house, and liaising with utility companies and other parties.
Consider registering with a reputable credit and identity theft monitoring service. This service will monitor your identity and notify you of any potentially suspicious activity.
Hire Reputable Charlotte Movers for a Safe and Effective Relocation
If you are hiring movers to help you move your belongings to your new house, make sure you choose a trustworthy company. Do online research to ensure the company has a good reputation. Another option is to ask dependable friends and family for recommendations.
Here at Pink Zebra Moving, protecting your belongings every minute of your move is a priority. If you’d like to learn more about how we work, find a location near you and contact us today!