If it seems like you hear something new about the security risks associated with identity theft on a daily basis you are no alone.
"Identity theft begins when someone takes your personally identifiable information such as your name, social security number, date of birth, your mother's maiden name, and your address to use it, without your knowledge or permission, for their personal financial gain"(Utica.edu).
Most people are aware that their identities can be stolen at any time but are less than sure what they should be doing about it. Protecting your identity from becoming stolen is a proactive measure that you should be taking part of every day.
If you do not have existing destruction policies in place, consider but do not limit yourself to, shredding the following items.
- Personal Documents: Bank cards, state or federally issued forms of identification, credit cards, bills, un-used or voided checks, property titles, loan documents, resumes, credit reports, credit scores, financial or general purpose receipts, and any form of addressed mail.
- Business Documents: Identification cards, business licenses, pay stubs, invoices, business cards, credit reports, employment backgrounds reports, insurance claims, bar coded periodicals and sticky notes with confidential information.
- Travel Documents: Boarding passes, flight stubs, and flight confirmation documentation, luggage tags or even post cards all contain enough useful information that may catch the attention of identity thieves.
It is important to securely destroy any information that could be used to gain access to confidential or financial information. The safest way to dispose of all of these items is to have them securely shredded or destroyed by experienced industry professionals.
Modern criminals are tech savvy and strategic in their thievery, some practices may include:
- Dumpster Diving: occurs when someone goes through another person's garbage to collect personal or financial information.
- Mail Theft: happens when someone unauthorized removes mail from your mailbox like bills or credit card payments that others can use to impersonate you.
- Social Engineering or Pre-texting: a method where someone uses a small amount of personal information to get you to give them additional personal information over the phone or computer.