Mobile Shredding Companies and Identity Theft

Mobile Shredding Companies and Identity Theft:
You have to keep certain financial records and backup documents stored for a designated amount of time to meet IRS regulations. Unfortunately consumers tend to keep too much on hand instead of under lock and key and that makes them more vulnerable to identity theft or fraud. Looking around a typical household will reveal a wealth of personal information including social security numbers, account numbers, account passwords and so on.

One of the most important steps consumers can take to limit the possibility of their identity being stolen is making it difficult for would-be thieves to obtain those important account access numbers. Once a thief has a social security number, a birth date and other relevant information, it’s possible to open an account online or even borrow money.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the fear of identity theft is driving a new industry and changing consumer habits. There are now neighborhood events called Shredder Day that are held. A mobile shredding unit is parked in a central location and people can bring all the paper documents they want to have shredded.

Shredder Day events are sponsored by a number of organizations including the government, local businesses and neighborhood groups. Many times the event is turned into a charity fund raiser too.

People showing up for these shredding events bring varying amounts of documents. Some carry their paperwork in boxes while others pull children’s wagons. They bring bills, advertisements, bank statements, account statements and tons of other papers that households collect. Most houses have a stack of paper sitting somewhere that is a mishmash of personal documents and unimportant mail that will be looked at “one day”.

Identity theft is a serious affair deserving serious attention. One of the reasons people accumulate documents with sensitive information in their homes is simply because it would take too long to shred all the material using one of the small home shredders sold in local discount stores. The mobile shredding trucks carry industrial sized shredders that can quickly turn many pounds of paper into confetti. In fact the large shredding can shred 6,000 pounds of paper in one hour.

Many people have become victims of identity theft because they made it easy for thieves to obtain their information. In one case the thieves broke into a house and stole the middle set of checks from a box of checks. They didn’t take anything else in order to not arouse suspicion. The owners discovered the checks were missing when some of the them were returned for insufficient funds.

It doesn’t take much information for a thief to steal an identity. All that is needed is a victim’s name, address, and social security number.

Of course there is another reason it’s important to shred documents and it has nothing to do with identity theft. Paper that is shredded during Shredder Day using a shredding company’s unit is then recycled into other products like paper towels or napkins.

If your neighborhood does not have a Shredder Day then it’s a good idea to contact your local governmental office responsible for management of the environment and see if


PrintPDF