Wednesday’s Shred-a-thon at Hardee’s should serve as a reminder to everyone of the importance of shredding any and all documents with personal information on them before they go in the recycling bin. The event was one of a series of Shred-a-thons conducted by Channel 7 in the Upstate. Union native and TV personality Jack Roper said an average of 20,000 pounds of paper are shredded at each event.
That’s a lot of paper, and a lot of — fortunately lost — opportunity for criminals to line their pockets while turning honest people’s lives upside down. Yet as many documents as were shredded Wednesday, there is no doubt thousands of pounds more have not. If left unshredded overnight or even during the day in a garbage can or some other location within reach of unscrupulous hands they have the potential to destroy a person’s bank account, credit rating and peace of mind.
Criminals are always looking for an easy target and the more difficult we make it for them to commit their crimes the less likely each of us is to become a statistic. That’s why before you dispose of any document that has personal information including Social Security, bank account and other numbers that can afford a crook easy access to your money, thoroughly shred them. This will make it harder for criminals to get the information they need to enrich their lives and ruin yours.
Yes, shredding those papers, either one or a few at a time on a daily basis, or in bulk every few weeks or so is time-consuming. But it is time well-spent to make sure it is you, not some thief, spending the contents of your bank account.
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