Think Twice Before You Toss It In the Trash

We all want to make sure that we’re protected from thieves–but it’s easy to overlook important things like the trash. Unfortunately, thieves are incredibly clever when it comes to gaining access to your personal property, and they’ll gladly leverage any information you unwittingly give them access to.

How carefully do you think about what you throw away? Chances are you’ve casually tossed a bill or a piece of mail without thinking about who might lay eyes on it. However, thieves who have rummaged around trash and recycling bins have found sensitive information, such as:

• Social Security numbers
• Scanned copies of driver’s licenses and passports
• Bank and credit card information
• Full names
• Telephone numbers
• Addresses
• Travel schedules

If this information falls into the wrong hands, it can mean big trouble for you. A stolen identity is hard to recover, and immense damage can be done before you have a chance to catch it. It’s crucial to properly dispose of any documents that might have personal information. Using a shredder is a good idea–and be sure to carefully look through every item you throw away, since it might have personal information you don’t even think about. It’s easy to forget or overlook, but thieves can strike at any time, and it’s much better to be safe than sorry. Before you throw anything away without destroying it first, be sure to consider whether it contains any personal information that you wouldn’t want somebody to know about. After all, bills (for example) don’t just contain your name–they can also contain your account number and details about your payment, and those details alone are enough to cause trouble.

Keeping your home safe and secure with a security system from Advanced Lock & Security is a wonderful idea that can help deter thieves; just be sure that you properly dispose of sensitive material when it leaves the home so that you can take even greater comfort in the knowledge that you–and your identity–are safe and secure.