Shredding financial junk mail is probably one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent identity theft. Many people might perceive identity theft to be a crime committed by technically savvy, intelligent, and cunning thieves. While in some cases this is true, in most cases this crime is committed by people who are not above diving into dumpsters and looking through your leftover spaghetti.
Credit card companies are the main concern in combating postal identity theft. While these companies are trying to make things easier for you by pre-filling all your information on those applications, they’re really just making it easier for thieves to open those accounts in your name. If you’re anything like me, you get tons of credit card offers and applications, with a fair amount of “pre-approved” cards sprinkled in for good measure. These are red flags and should be ripped up immediately. It is entirely too simple for someone to reach into your garbage and pick out these envelopes, sign your name, and send them off.
Another piece of mail you should be cautious of is your bank statement. These hold a lot of information about you, your name, your account number, and balance. Some statements might even have images of your signed, cancelled checks that people can use to create forgeries. A quick search of recent news stories will bring up plenty of instances where people went from mailbox to mailbox taking statements. One that occurred in my neighboring town involved a woman and her daughter delivering the local newspaper. They drove down the street stopping at every house, dropping off the newspaper, and taking peoples bank statements. They then used this information to make withdrawals from their victim’s banks.
One of the best defenses against this kind of fraud is vigilance and shredding. Having a small shredder in the home is now an essential piece of equipment. If you don’t have one or cannot buy one, some banks or institutions have “Shred Days,” where you can bring all your saved junk mail (don’t throw it out!) and give it to them to shred in the same industrial shredders they use. Another solution is to convert all your paper statements to an online format. Many banks and credit card companies offer this service, and oddly enough it is more secure than paper in your mailbox. It is much harder to hack a secured website than it is to walk up to a mailbox and take out an envelope. These online services archive your statements for a long time, but you can also print them out and hold on to them as a backup.
