Once of the most vulnerable times for consumers in terms of identity theft is when they are moving home. This is a very stressful time, and not only is it common for people to leave some important documents behind when they move out, but almost two thirds of home movers also forget to redirect their mail, which means that all manner of important documents such as bank statements, mobile phone bills and even new credit cards still continue to be sent to the old address, and could fall into the hands of identity thieves and fraudsters.
Another problem is when home movers forget to stop the utilities services to the property, and so these bills can continue to go up in their names, even when they have moved away. The new residents may not be aware of this, or may be taking advantage of the fact the old occupant details are still in place, but regardless it is your responsibility to ensure you have stopped all of the gas, electric, water, telephone and property tax accounts in your name for any property you have moved out of, because you could be held accountable for any further charges made in your name. You can check out an identity theft resolution service, which may help you out.
If you are in rented accommodation it is likely you could change address quite a few times over the years, and so it is more important than ever that you make sure you have tied up any loose ends when you leave each place. Your name could still be tied to any or all of the properties you once lived in otherwise, which could leave you open to all kinds of fraudulent activity such as credit and utility accounts falsely linked to your name, or even more serious identity theft crimes such as SSN and passport fraud.