topic Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an in Community Chat

What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank and cr

MsCatLuver — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:50:52 GMT

Hi all,

I've been in the habit of shredding all documents which include credit card and bank account information in addition to documents that would include my Social Security number. Other day my shredder died and it had me thinking… What is the likelihood that somebody would really go through my trash cans to obtain document information? Obviously, I'm not a movie star or well-known person… I live in A modest neighborhood… And I only put my trash out the night before collection. While I understand that identity theft is serious, I just don't see people rummaging through my trash cans.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this matter. TIA

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

DiAnne — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:54:29 GMT

I also would doubt anyone would rummage in my trash cans but I do shred anything with my personal information on it.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Imaoldhippie — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:55:47 GMT

An ounce of prevention........................

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

CrazyDaisy — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:57:05 GMT

The chances of them targeting your trash is probably slim, however once it is picked up it could end up anywhere (blowing down the street). When my shredder broke till I could get a new one, I would tear things up and put it in the bag with the wet coffee grounds and other disgusting trash. Figured if the moisture didn't blur the information and other disgusting tid bits would have them move on to an easier target.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Kachina624 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:01:02 GMT

@MsCatLuver. I have the same garbage situation as you and have often wondered what sort of possibility there is that someone would pick my garbage can from the dozens on the street overnight and stand there with a flashlight rummaging through it. Never even heard of it happening. Still, I'm not going to put out anything with financial, prescription or other personal information on it.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

gidgetgh — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:01:08 GMT

I’m a world class shredder. It’s easy and pretty much takes the “what if” out of the equation.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Carol08 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:04:32 GMT

I put my personal information in with cat litter (used, of course), if I don't have a shredder available. I cut the personal papers into little pieces.....

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

SilleeMee — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:08:33 GMT

I never put out my trash can until the truck is at the end of my street. I did have my trash can rummaged through on more than one occasion and that happened during the overnight hours. So now I don't give them that opportunity.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Mary Bailey — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:12:50 GMT

I shred everything.

If I have a lot to dispose of (purging) we burn it.

After my dad passed, my mom hired a shredding company to bring a shredding truck to her house.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

x Hedge — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:14:28 GMT

I worked for a cheesy outfit that wouldn't provide a shredder or other means of disposing of my client's confidential information.

Here's what I did:

Submerge papers with confidential info in a dishpan filled with dish soap and very hot water.

Put something heavy on top to weigh the paper down and keep them submerged.

Soak at least overnight, but soaking a few nights is much, much better. (I used to soak a stack of papers every weekend)

When they're soaked long enough the paper will become pulpy and easily torn, twisted, mashed together, and a lot of the inks will bleed into smudgy nothings.

I used to tear chunks of pulpy paper from the stack and twist and squeeze them into handfulls of compressed mush, then toss these little handfulls in the garbage.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Group 5 minus 1 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:15:53 GMT

We burn all of our burnable trash.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

BirkiLady — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:18:22 GMT

@MsCatLuver Many communities have free shredding days in conjunction with food drives. They are often held in parking lots of local banks. While I use my shredder all of the time, when going through my mom's files and personal documents I took her paperwork to the huge shredding machines. Saved my little machine some wear and tear, saved me hours of time, and helped the food bank! To me, it's a win-win.

Contact your bank to see if such a program is available and the times and dates.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

chrystaltree — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:20:31 GMT

I think the risk is very small but it does happen so shredding our financial documents and papers with identifying informtion on them is worth it. It takes seconds and we risk nothing by doing it. That does not mean I'm going to by a shredder or one of those stamp things. I big black marker and tearing papers into small bits works and doesn't cost anything.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

x Hedge — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:26:35 GMT

By the way, someone may not rummage thru your trash at the pickup site, but there are opportunistic people who do pick through trash looking for what you're throwing away.

In a business setting I've found people willing to look thru bags of collected garbage before finally tossing them. People working trash collection for the city are no less opportunistic.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Carmie — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 18:04:59 GMT

If you would have asked me the same question a few years ago, I would have answered " slim to none."

While my DH and I were on vacation, my son who was in his 30's and lived at home, saw men in a pick up truck picking up trash late Tuesday night..into early Wednesday morning. The same pick up truck came back to the neighborhood and deposited the trash bags back around 5 am.

My son thought it was odd and stayed up the next Tuesday night to see if it would happen again...it did. He told us about it on the phone and we told him to call the police. He wanted to follow the truck to see where it went, but we told him it was too dangerous.

The next week, he poured ammonia cleaner and other smelly items into the trash bags, and waited, but the pick up truck never came again to pick up the trash.

In our neighborhood, no one went through the trash bags at the house. They took the bags to a "safe place" and did it. Then, they returned the bags to the neighborhood to be picked up by the trash company.

if I don't use a shredder, I use a black magic marker and a pair of scissors. I black out the info, then cut the blacked out sections off of the paper. The main part of the paper goes into the recycle bin and the blacked out paper into the trash.

If, it happened in my neighborhood, it could happen in yours too, It is not illegal for someone to pick through your trash once it is at the curb.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Mistreatedbycs — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:29:23 GMT

I don't know of any documents that have my ss# on them.

But the answer to your question is: Is trying to get your identity back after it's stolen worth the cost of $100 paper shredder?

I bought one 20 years ago from an office supply store and to this day, it's working fine. Invest in the best.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Its Me LuLuBelle2 — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:39:15 GMT

I wouldn't be as concerned about someone at your home going through your garbage as I would be at the garbage plant/recycling center. But, I freely admit I'm a little paranoid about identity theft. I even shred junk mail.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Mz iMac — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:50:10 GMT

Bodies are not the only things found at dump sites. People are hired to go through the town/city dump site to look for "shredded" items.

Another group are hired to paste the shredded (strip) items.

This is why it is best to purchase a shredder that cross shred items into powdery flakes instead of strips.

If you have a strip shredder, mix up the strips & put half in one bag & the rest in another. Never put all the strips in the same bag/garbage. This way the "professionals" will not have the whole puzzle to put together.

===============

To the OP who mentioned she has nothing w/SS#......

All the ID theives needs is a "name and/or street address." One or both can be used to obtain medical treatment and/or credit cards.

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Peaches McPhee — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:52:30 GMT

The likelihood is indeed probably very low. If destroying your private papers was a big ordeal or very costly, it might not make sense to do it. BUT, destroying your private papers is easy and cheap, so it does make sense (at least to me).

Re: What is the likelihood of somebody going through trash to steal your identity or obtain bank an

Mominohio — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:53:24 GMT

Why would it matter the amount of risk, when you consider the damage that could be done?

It is so easy to shred or burn the documents so even if the risk is minuscule, why chance it.

These days, this is just one of those no brainer kind of things that I would never skimp on or stop doing.

We also don't let our mail lay in the box. We are home when the mail runs and we get it quickly.