Identity Theft Information dot Org

One Response to “Is it necessary to shred name and address on tossed mail/docs to avoid identity theft?”

1. Brandi says:

   at 11:59 am

   ID thefts can use anything to steal your identity. I work for a Credit Union and we do a quarterly "Shred Your Documents Day" for our members. They can bring in anything that they want to shred. We are pushing the fact that Identity theft is on the rise and things you can do to prevent it. For example, If you receive a "pre-approved" offer for a credit card or something like that don’t just throw it out. If someone goes through your trash and gets that they now know your name, address, that you fit some type of criteria to receive that type of mailing and they could easily accept that "pre-approved" offer and change the address and have it mailed to them. Now they would have a credit card with your name on it, with your signature (in their writing) and your credit on the line! Not that this example is going to always happened but you never know. I don’t shred everything that has my name and address on it but I do shred anything that is personalized to me such as credit card offers or anything else that says anything about "Return this portion" or anything like that. You’d rather be safe than sorry! Also check your credit report on a regular basis. You can get copies from all three of the Credit Beaurus once a year for free. Check out annualcreditreport.com for more information. I hope this helps! Brandi =)