Boston Moving Company Adjust Rules to Prevent Criminal Identity Theft During International Moves
Spurred by the large amounts of personal data that can easily be misplaced or left in the wrong hands if not attended to properly, a Boston-area moving company has announced new ways to prevent the risk of criminal identity theft during an international move.
Humboldt Storage and Moving, which bills itself as the oldest moving company in Boston, announced earlier this week that it had implemented new rules and regulations in the New Year requiring anyone moving out of the U.S. to file for an Employer Identification Number, or an EIN, with the IRS in order to prevent criminal identity theft.
The switch to the use of an EIN number will replace the use of a Social Security number that had previously been required for an international move and will aid in the prevention of risks for identity theft. While admittedly a bit more challenging a task, as the new rules will require more work on the customer's part, Humboldt believes this is one of the best ways to prevent criminal identity theft during an international move.
Humboldt helps to conduct approximately 1,200 international moves every year.
Humboldt officials were confident that the prevention efforts would reduce stresses for many who worry about falling victim to identity theft through mistakes made during a moving situation.
"We see a lot of international moves here each year," stated James Sullivan, president of Humboldt Storage and Moving. "We also see the stress involved in not only regular moves but the ones overseas. One small misstep on the part of anyone in the moving process can escalate that stress and make for a more challenging move; especially when moving internationally."
Minimizing the exposure of one's Social Security number is one of many prevention tips that were recently given by Identity Theft 911 as a way to prevent one's identity from falling into the hands of identity theft criminals.
Among the other prevention tips and ways to prevent identity theft suggested by the service in a National Data Privacy Day statement released on Thursday, were suggestions to only use credit cards when making online purchases and to regularly update anti-virus and anti-malware systems on one's computer.
