Identity theft - Destroy the temptation with a shredder

As identity theft becomes a growing problem, millions of people in this country are potential victims. One simple tool, available at any office supply retailer, can be very helpful towards helping you avoid being an identity theft victim.

The only way to avoid becoming an an identity or credit theft victim is to guard your personal information carefully, and to get rid of the information that you no longer have a need for. Identity or credit theft is one of the most rapidly growing areas of crime in the nation. The statistics vary, but some estimates say that nearly ten million people in the United States are victimized by identity theft each and every year. As technology becomes more a part of our everyday life, dishonest people are finding more slick ways to make use of the financial or personal information of others for their own benefit - and their victims' loss.
 

One of the smartest, and most affordable, ways to avoid theft of your information is to obtain a shredder. A document shredder used to be an appliance that one only saw at big businesses, like banks or credit unions. Lately, more consumers have been acquiring shredders for their own use. Paper shredders can presently be seen at most any office supply store and you might also see them cheaply at your neighborhood Wal-Mart store.

Searching through someone's trash cans may seem to be a lot of trouble, but dishonest people do it all the time. By buying a shredder, you can more or less destroy any such documents before getting rid of them, as papers that have been destroyed can seldom be read. Records that should be shredded might include regular bills, bank card statements, old tax returns, business receipts or just about any other item that you might discard that has information that is relevant only to you. The purpose of a paper shredder is to hold off possible crooks from looking for and finding your personal information on any financial documents that you might discard.
 

You ought to retain receipts, earnings statements, W-2 forms and any other similar documentation until such time that you can be fairly certain that you won't need them any longer. You shouldn't throw away all essential documents. You should only get rid of financial documents when you are certain that you will no longer need them. It is generally a good idea to keep some financial documents for as long as seven years for tax purposes. You never know when the IRS may decide, without notice, to audit a tax return you submitted three or four years ago.

Cheap shredder models are so-called "straight cut" document shredders; it is possible that anyone with all of the pieces could assemble the strips of paper back together. Inexpensive models will work just fine, but for a bit more money you can buy a "confetti" type shredder, which reduces the records to much smaller pieces. Document shredders are not particularly costly; you can buy small models for as little as $30 or so.

The scam artists who would steal your financial or personal information are going to use a multifaceted means of attacking you, so you ought to use a multifaceted defense. You should protect your personal information when shopping online and watch out for fraud and scams from telemarketers and spammers involved in phishing attacks. Shredding paperwork is just one part of the prevention process for identity theft and credit theft. It’s not a complete solution, of course. You must constantly remain vigilant. The crooks work 24 hours a day.