We may be unwittingly exposing ourselves to identity theft by not taking proper precautions when tossing all our paper into the recycling bins.How many times do you whisk the discarded junk mail into the recycling bin?Or have a spring clean and end up with piles of old papers which we simply dump? 

Recycling is vital but careful vigilance of how and what we throw out is vital for our own safety. With every good intention, we could however, be putting ourselves at risk.

Identity theft is said to be one of the fastest growing crimes around the globe and it knows no boundaries, affecting people from all walks of life from celebrities and politicians to the ordinary person.

Every minute, someone in America falls prey to identity fraud, while across the ocean in the UK, 2008 figures from the Identity Fraud Steering Committee put identity fraud costing that economy 1.2 billion pounds in one year alone.Even the Federal Reserve Bank chairman, Brian Bernanke was caught up in a multi million dollar fraud after his wife’s purse was stolen.   It can happen to anyone.

Have a closer look at some of the junk mail that comes through your mailbox.  You may be surprised at how often your personal details are repeated on all the enclosed bits of paper.Putting those types of papers into a recycling bin where they can be readily accessed by criminals makes you a soft target.

Anne Prince of established Perth print finishing supplies company, Laidlaw, says a simple home shredder can be all that it takes to stay out of reach of criminals.   “Home shredding machines are high quality yet really reasonable and should be as common as other everyday home equipment such as fridges, washing machines and televisions. 

“We’re very good at cutting up our old credit cards,” she said.”But we’re not very diligent about cutting up the accompanying letter and envelope which also contains important personal details.” You can get a basic shredding machine for domestic use which is able to cut up credit cards as well has handle staples, but it is always advisable to purchase from an established company like print finishing machinery company, Laidlaw, as they can provide essential technical back-up, service and support.

There are two different types of shredding machines for domestic use – strip cut and cross cut which dices paper.To avoid information being read in some of the strips, Anne suggests that documents in strip shredders should be fed in top to bottom and not sideways.Some of the material that should be cut into shreds include medical records, household accounts, income tax information and bank statements.

Shredding doesn’t have to have any negative impact on our recycling efforts either.  It’s just paper in a different format – a format which can’t be used for criminal means !   

“The scale of identity fraud is staggering,” Prince says.”Prevention is far easier than unravelling the mess after it’s happened.Talk to an established print finishing supplies company in WA, Laidlaw, for expert advice on what type of shredding machine is best suited to your needs, because there really is only one choice – to shred.  You can still go green without facing a black future.”

IS RECYCLING A SAFETY RISK? is a post from: Mold Inspection Companies