Shredding Identities

I was shredding documents today. It's almost as hard to shred papers with those social security and account numbers we don't want anyone to steal, as to tear it manually. Maybe it's my aversion to all technology that makes it resist me and make even simple shredding easier for me than for a machine. But I do it more often than after a move. paper work from brokerages, investment offices, bank accounts etc. are the cheese for the rats who steal identities.

I am still trying to figure out what happened on my drive from New Orleans to Portland in early August. I started the drive with a working credit card, used it only twice even though I wanted to pay cash (sad to say that some business "require" a credit card and don't want cash, which is the legal tender established by law). After I got to Portland and tried to use my credit card for "Jane furniture" at an Ikea store, Ikea said it was refused and inactive. Someone in Kansas or Wyoming, where I used it at hotels had stolen ti and tried to buy stock on line with it.

I didn't shred much because that machine is a pain. But what I manually shredded and tore by hand amounted to the following categories: tax records and worksheets, credit card statements, canceled checks, insurance forms, investment transactions and quarterly financial reports, and any documents that contained Social Security numbers. Other records I kept, at least for awhile. I just wanted to reduce the paper buildup and get rid of Louisiana documents that are no longer active records.

Supposedly, people do look in trash cans for the golden papers with numbers they can use to wipe out the owner. Despite what many people think, most identity theft doesn't involve cyberspace. Today, most identity thieves still rely on proven methods to get their hands on paper records. A stolen Social Security card, driver's license or a credit or debit card today is worth more than money itself. And grabbing your mail before you do after that postal guy delivers it is as common as way to get those documents.

Anyway, I think there is little we can do to stop identity theft if someone targets is. Uh, after your reading this if someone steals your financial identity, I swear it wasn't I.