The best magazine
It’s been said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s not always true, but your trash often leaves clues as to what treasures exist in your home. Once you throw something in the garbage, you likely forget about it. However, thieves do not. In fact, the trash can is a treasure trove of information about your home, your family, your lifestyle and your habits.
The Problem
Start by thinking about how much trash you throw away on a daily basis.
Much of it seems irrelevant, such as empty food containers and used bathroom supplies like toilet paper rolls. However, think about the paper that you throw in the trash. Do you throw away billing statements? How about bank or ATM receipts? Do you throw away the boxes from your Christmas, Hanukah or birthday gifts? All these items tell a thief about your current financial standing and what items you have in the house that are valuable.
It takes seconds. Most of us throw our trash away in plastic garbage bags or large receptacles that then go outside to await pickup. A thief snatches the plastic bags and leaves, giving him as much time as he needs later to go through them. Plastic bins are quickly emptied into a bag the thief brings with him, or he dumps it into the back of a car or truck. In less than a minute, all that personal data about your life is gone. Your address, phone number, banking locations, bank balances, places of business, vehicle information, debt information and anything else you can think of is all up for grabs.
And because it’s trash, you’ll never miss it.
Once a thief has several months of billing information collected, he can call you posing as a representative of that company, using the information from your bills to feign authenticity. This then sets you up to give away more information or to follow instructions that leave you open to identity theft. Once a thief knows you got an expensive new laptop for Christmas, he can wait for you to leave the house so he can grab it.
Solutions
- Start by investing in a paper shredder. There are different models, but you need one that cross-cuts the paper into smaller bits. The cheaper ones only shred documents in one direction, making them easy for an industrious thief to put them back together. Use the shredder on any sensitive documents. For added security, separate the paper remains and scatter them throughout multiple trash cans throughout the home. Tear up or shred any credit card offers that come in the mail, even those you do not use. This helps prevent identity theft, because a thief uses those offers to potentially open accounts in your name.
- Break down any large boxes that have logos or product names on them. Cut off the area of the box that has your name and address on it. Either fold the boxes so that they fit inside your trashcan without being seen, or drive them to a nearby dumpster or recycling center to remove them from your home area. This is especially important around the holidays, where thieves are actively looking for signs of expensive gifts that they can steal.
- Keep your outside trash cans secured in your garage if you have one, and bring them out shortly before your normal trash pickup time. This helps limit the amount of time someone has to search through your garbage.
- Call your service provider directly if someone calls you claiming to be a representative of that company and requesting information. Contacting that company directly helps verify that the person you spoke with was legitimate. Do not provide any information to anyone over the phone until you know for a fact that the person is actually a service representative from that company.
Source: ...