Uturn challenge
Community Forum
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Erin
04.19.09 7:31pm
Shread It
I think that ID Theft is like any other kind of theft, you do your best to make sure it doesn't happen to you, but sometimes despite your efforts it can happen anyway. I live in a busy Portland neighborhood and people regularly sort through our recycling looking for bottles and possibly documents with personal information on them. The bottle thing doesn't bother me, but I do take special care to shred all of the papers that might have any of my personal information on them. I have a small shredder that I can use, but I have found it more convenient to save up my paperwork in a bin in the house and a few times a year KGW (the local NBC station) will shred them for free. On these shred days I pull up to the station and they take the documents I have been saving and shred them into miniscule pieces which are then recycled. It only takes a few minutes to do this on my way to work and it always feels good to come home with an empty bin.
Ryan_FEO
04.28.09 2:20pm
I don't have reliable numbers on this but I've heard that many times victims of identity theft have been taken advantage of by someone they know. This means that sensitive information even in your own home may not always be safe. Many of us, including myself sometimes, leave bank statements in or near dressers or desks. How easy would it be for an invited guest to walk by and slip that statement into their pocket?
If your home only entertains immediate family members and very close friends you might feel better about leaving your sensitive information around. But should you? What if someone were to break in your home? Lots of us stockpile our ‘to be shredded’ mail in a basket or bag but what if this intruder found that stash? Jackpot. The same can be said for computers without passwords. Could a potential ID thief simply turn your computer on and access sensitive financial information stored there? Are your passwords to online banking and billpay auto-saved? Just a few things to think about.