It starts with a strange email or a congratulatory letter — “Congratulations on your new Tesla!” But there isn’t a new car in your driveway, and there isn’t enough money in your account to afford one. This is what identity theft looks like, and without hard drive destruction or paper shredding services, it can happen to you.
The end result can be hours spent on the phone, talking with your credit card company to dispute the charges. And without destroying hard drives, you can accidentally reveal passwords to all of your online accounts.
Keep reading below to learn more about how to protect yourself from identity thieves. Destroying personal information is often the best way to protect it!
Paper Shredding Protects Your Identity
Most people don’t think about how much personal information and important documents collect in their trash. Once you’re done with a bill or if you just don’t want to reach your latest bank statement, you may simply throw it away. But disposing of it this way does not get rid of the information.
It just moves that information outside of your house, making it vulnerable. Thieves know just how much people throw away important documents, and so they may dig through the trash for it. And once they find this information, it can be almost impossible for your personal information to get secure once again.
But if you shred personal documents, you can guarantee your information is safe after throwing it away. Most thieves don’t have the skills needed to repair paper information, and won’t go through the work. They can’t be certain that the payoff is worth it, and it can take too much time compared to simply going through another person’s trash.
Thieves Can Get Rich By Digging Through Trash
When thieves get ahold of your information, social security number, or anything else — they can wreak havoc on your finances. You may not be able to buy a Tesla right now, but that doesn’t matter to a thief. All they need is your social security number and credit card number to buy one.
Most don’t even go for such high-ticket items though. Instead, many may simply take your information and then go for a shopping spree at your local mall. You may need a social security number for a new car, but buying electronics and clothes doesn’t require that.
Instead, they just need a simple credit card number to make those purchases. They can get that information just by going through old records. And once they do, you may need to spend hours on the phone disputing those charges with your lending agency.
Hard Drive Destruction Is Essential to Stop Identity Theft
Most computers automatically save credit card information to make online shopping easier. Instead of putting it in manually, you can just use a pin to fill out credit card forms. For many people, it makes life a lot easier.
But if you don’t destroy your hard drive after getting rid of the device, it can also make your life much harder. Thieves can access this information on your hard drive with some simple hacking techniques. Once your hard drive is in their hands, all they need to do is run a program on it and have access to the information stored inside.
The best way to protect personal information on your computer isn’t by making a secure password or saving stuff online. Instead, the best way is to destroy the hard drive once you get rid of a device.
Protect Personal Information With Shredding
Protecting personal information is getting harder and harder as more information is put online. Accounts are hacked all the time, causing a cascade of other accounts to fall victim to hackers. Without proper hard drive destruction, you can leave yourself exposed online.
Old-school techniques are also still useful for thieves, such as rummaging through trash. Without paper shredding services, people can unintentionally leave their personal information out in the open.
If you want to stay secure and protect yourself, just reach out to us. We will make sure all of your personal information is handled with care, and that no thieves get to it.