Thursday, July 17, 2014

Shred old documents Saturday to prevent identity theft
















It's time to do something about the stacks of paper collecting dust in your home office, attic and other rooms.
If you don’t need those old mortgage loan documents, checks, credit cards, bank statements and tax forms, shred them – today. It’s for your own good.
Commercial shredders will be waiting from 9 a.m. to noon today during a Community Shred Event at the Ikea parking lot, 8300 Ikea Blvd. Bring up to three banker boxes, along with outdated prescription medications, says District 4 Charlotte City Council member Greg Phipps, one of the event's hosts.
Identity theft is a problem nationally, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department handles roughly 3,000 cases annually.
“There’s always a problem of someone getting ahold of documentation that they can use to open an account,” said Sgt. Walter Bowling of CMPD. “You’re making it easy on the criminal to gain your information if you’re not shredding.”
Identity theft can include fraudulent check cashing, check and credit card counterfeiting, opening accounts in someone else’s name or taking out loans.
The risks for consumers goes beyond what we throw out. Burglars might take documents and credit cards. Traffickers can use technology to sell your information online or make transactions.

Learn more while you’re dumping those old papers today. “It’s not just for shredding,” Bowling said. “We’re hoping to raise awareness.”

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms

10 comments:

Unknown said...

This is such a great idea, I wish my area had something like this. As it is, I have to find other other ways to shred my documents. But, the more I learn about identity theft, the more important I know it is. Hopefully officials in other cities will follow this example and will continue to educate people and raise awareness about identity theft and how to prevent it. document shredding southern california

Unknown said...

Making sure that documents are properly shredded is essential in preventing identity theft. I think that it makes for greater peace of mind as well to know they are shredded properly. My father in-law is looking for a place to shred some of his company's documents securely.
Cynthia | http://www.abcmovingnc.com/shredding.htm

Unknown said...

It is interesting that the day you shred documents makes a difference. I try to be as careful as possible with my customers' sensitive information. I usually do most of my shredding on Friday. I come in for a couple of hours on Saturday, so it would be easy to make the switch.

http://www.sugarhousearchives.com

Unknown said...

If you look in the dictionary for shredding experts, you’ll see a picture of Saxon Archives! My company based in West Palm Beach had confidential documents that needed to be properly disposed so we contacted them. Their mobile shredding truck came and took care of the documents in no time. Great service, highly recommended! Check out their website at www.palmbeacharchive.com/mobile-shredding/

Unknown said...

I was never very good about shredding vital documents until I opened my own business. Then I really began to understand the kind of information that could just be laying in garbage can. Now I'm very conscientious about the documents I leave lying around. | http://www.vitalrecordscontrol.com

Unknown said...

Huge stacks of old documents are sitting in my office filing cabinet right now. I procrastinate so much when it comes to shredding my old documents. It's because when I was a kid one of the jobs I hated to do was shred my dad's old documents. He would give me a huge stack of paper to shred and I would end up spending my whole Saturday shredding paper. Do you know if there are any types of services that will shred your documents for you?
http://www.filefindersltd.com

Unknown said...

Ever since I was little my dad has taught me the importance of shredding documents that aren't needed but have personal information on them. The last thing you want to do is throw a document that has personal information on it and it gets in the hands of someone who isn't honest. It sounds silly, but things like this are important to take seriously.

http://www.mobileshred.net

Unknown said...

Thanks for the reminder on shredding important documents. You are right, it is a good idea to set a date when you shred stuff. Otherwise those documents will build up and so will the risk of losing them. Maybe I will look into hiring a mobile shredding service.
http://www.shredsolvers.com

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