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I think anyone who's thick enough to recycle or even just bin bank statements and the like without shredding them (even if it's just manual shredding) deserves to have their identity used fraudulently.
Posted: 17:00 Feb 09 2007
Debate: ID Theft - a drawback of saving the planet?
It has been hard to miss ID Theft is on the rise. It seems to be in the news at least once every two weeks or so. Yes most of us use internet banking and we have more plastic in our wallets than ever before. However breaking into computers to gain internet banking info and copying cards requires special skill and / or equipment but there is wealth of information that these ID thieves use and we seem to be handing it to them nicely sorted and separated.
You might be wondering what the heck is he talking about... Well I'm talking about the ID thief's wet dream..... recycling.
Through the years we have been brainwashed to separate items like paper, plastic, tins, glass etc from our normal rubbish so it can be recycled. More and more local councils even started handing out special containers in which you can store all the different types of recycling. Not only did this in many cases increase your council tax bill but you've also made it a heck of a lot easier for any wannabe ID thief.
In the past when a ID thief wanted to see if you had any worthwhile papers in your trash he had to take all your trash, including all those things you really do not want to get on you after it has been in the bin for a week, not to mention the horrible smell and the general bulkiness. But no! now he just has to empty / quickly sift through that neat little stack of paper you so neatly separated.
Although there is nothing wrong with the basic idea behind recycling what the environmentalists have been trying to teach the public might have been just a little too basic and opening the doors for ID Theft. Sure you can recycle your paper but a lot of paper items like bills, statements, receipts, comprehensive address labels etc should all be shredded before being recycled otherwise you'll be leaving an absolute gold mine for potential ID thieves and that message is a bit too complex to be taught using 30 second TV ad. This means that many people stay blissfully unaware of that what they are doing may be environmentally friendly but might come back and bit them in the ass.
So what do you think? Are these recycling efforts from the local councils really setting us up to get our identities stolen or is it all a just bull?
You might be wondering what the heck is he talking about... Well I'm talking about the ID thief's wet dream..... recycling.
Through the years we have been brainwashed to separate items like paper, plastic, tins, glass etc from our normal rubbish so it can be recycled. More and more local councils even started handing out special containers in which you can store all the different types of recycling. Not only did this in many cases increase your council tax bill but you've also made it a heck of a lot easier for any wannabe ID thief.
In the past when a ID thief wanted to see if you had any worthwhile papers in your trash he had to take all your trash, including all those things you really do not want to get on you after it has been in the bin for a week, not to mention the horrible smell and the general bulkiness. But no! now he just has to empty / quickly sift through that neat little stack of paper you so neatly separated.
Although there is nothing wrong with the basic idea behind recycling what the environmentalists have been trying to teach the public might have been just a little too basic and opening the doors for ID Theft. Sure you can recycle your paper but a lot of paper items like bills, statements, receipts, comprehensive address labels etc should all be shredded before being recycled otherwise you'll be leaving an absolute gold mine for potential ID thieves and that message is a bit too complex to be taught using 30 second TV ad. This means that many people stay blissfully unaware of that what they are doing may be environmentally friendly but might come back and bit them in the ass.
So what do you think? Are these recycling efforts from the local councils really setting us up to get our identities stolen or is it all a just bull?
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Posted: 17:00 Feb 09 2007 