3 On Your Side: Protect Your Identity While Moving
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With kids out of school, summer time is a popular time to make a move.
While packing up personal belongings is at the top of many to-do lists, 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan finds that you need to also have a plan for your personal information too when moving.
Many consumers take care when packing up a moving truck with household items. But scammers are looking for something else.
"What many people do is they spend more time thinking about how to protect their tangible things like, 'how many times do I need to wrap this picture frame with bubble wrap,' than they do thinking about how to protect the intangible things like their identity," says Joe Mason from Identity Guard.
To protect personal information keep this mind:
-Make a checklist of accounts that need to be updated with new information.
-Devices like laptops and desktop computers should be secured with passwords.
-Getting rid of papers? Shred sensitive documents.
-Remember that documents like birth certificates, social security cards, and wills should stay with you, rather than the back of a truck.
"Identity theft can occur before, during and after a move, and people need to be very vigilant, very selfish, with the information that's theirs," Mason says.
By the way, after you're settled in, review your moving checklist again to make sure old accounts are closed out. Also, check banking and credit accounts to make sure nothing looks suspicious.
