To shred or not to shred

With the recent wave of "identity theft" and "online-fraud", I've been becoming more and more nervous every time I throw away anything with my name, address or anything else. There was a time where I would take everything and just throw it away without cutting it up. Neil would get irritated because he was the complete opposite. He would take any letter, credit card offer, or even prescription paperwork and tear it into a million little pieces before tossing it in the trash.

I started to do it a little bit but it took so much effort and was just a waste of my precious time (unlike blogging).

On Monday, we were hit with fraud. Neil, the active mail shredder, was exposed to credit card fraud. Neil logged onto his online bank account where he noticed an "international transaction fee" followed by not one, not two but three charges from EUROPE! Someone has been using HIS IDENTITY!!! As soon as that happened I knew that he was going to place some of the blame on me since I don't shred his shit. As I became more aware of identity theft, i found that Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the World. Almost 1.8 million Americans (one in twenty adults) have been victimized by identity theft! That is insane!

I guess you can say that on Monday, I was reborn. I'm now gonna be a shredding maniac and even going to invest in a paper shredder this weekend. My friend Jeni has a paper shredder and she said its kinda fun to use so maybe I'll have fun doing it too!! woohoo.
So I hope you all learn a lesson from me and don't let fraud get in the middle of you and your paycheck. SHRED IT!
Here's what you can do to prevent this from happening to you: (from wikipedia)

Recommended by the US Federal Trade Commission

• Shred documents and paperwork which contain personal information before you discard them.
• Don't give out personal information unless you know who you are dealing with.
• Never click on links in unsolicited emails; instead, type in a web address which you know
• Use firewalls, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software to protect your home computer;
• Don't use obvious passwords like your birth date or your mother's maiden name
• Keep your personal information in a secure place at home
• Be alert for discrepancies in your financial bills and statements and query them immediately
• Report fraud as soon as you detect it

The following have also been recommended:

• Collect delivered postal mail as soon as possible.
• Use reliable ATMs at reputable sites only.
• Look for any suspicious attachments to an ATM and gas station devices which accept credit and debit cards, and if in doubt, do not use the ATM or gas station device, but report the problem.
• Be aware of your surroundings when using an ATM. Hide what you type on a keypad from others.
• Limit the amount of personal information you publish on the web.
• When shopping online, make sure the company is reputable, displays an approved security symbol and uses an encrypted page to take payment details. The encrypted page should not generate warnings about being signed by an unknown authority.
• When handing over your credit card, do not let it out of your sight.
• If you are traveling, tell the post office to hold your mail until your return or have someone you trust collect it.
• Drop outgoing mail in Post Office mail boxes like you find on street corners or at the Post Office (preferable).
• Avoid the threat of check washing by using Gel ink pens when writing checks.
• Stop pre-approved credit card mail offers either online or call 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688).

Good night =)