Identity Protection Tips
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a non-profit organization primarily funded by the Department of Justice, over 10 million people had their identities stolen last year.
To put that in perspective, that means you have a 1 in 10 chance EVERY year at getting your identity stolen. What does that mean for you? If you have your identity stolen it will cost you an average of $550.39 in out-of-pocket expenses for damage done and it will take you an average of 116 hours to repair the damage.
The easiest thing to do is to prevent identity theft from happening in the first place. There are a few easy steps you can take to protect yourself and your family.
Start by investing in a reliable cross cut personal paper shredder for your home. Be sure that it is “Cross Cut” and preferably one that has jam-free rollers or auto reverse and a safety guard if you have children in your home. Shred every paper document that has your personal information on it (except the documents that you want to keep of course), including all of the credit card applications you get in the mail. 68% of identity theft happens as a result of documents being stolen from recycle and trash bins.
If you have a son or daughter away at college, consider getting them a paper shredder as well. There are a growing number of college students getting their identities stolen, in part because they rarely shred documents containing their personal information. The damage is often greater because it takes them longer to figure out that their identity has been stolen.
If you are clearing your files and have a substantial amount of papers that need to be shredded, take them to a drop-off site in your area. At most paper shredding drop-off sites they will shred your papers as you watch. They use commercial grade shredders that accept staples, credit cards, paper clips and sometimes even full binders. On average you can have a full bankers box of papers shredded for between $5-$15. There are several companies across the US that offer this service. Your bank may offer the service free of charge once or twice a year.
If you don’t want to have to bring all of your papers somewhere, you could have a 50-100 gallon locked bin delivered to your home. Spend a weekend cleaning out your file cabinets and fill it with all of your documents to be shredded. The company will pick it up and give you a certificate of destruction. This service varies by company and usually costs between $60-$100. Be sure you use a company that is certified.
What to do with your shredded paper at home? You could drop it off at your local Humane Society. They use it to make soft animal beds. Or you could use it to pack and ship items, compost it or just toss it in your recycling bin.
The best way to protect yourself is to keep your personal information safe.
Tags: college students, Credit, family, identity protection tips, identity theft, parenting, protecting your family, protecting yourself, teens
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Credit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.