Southern California Mobile Shredding specializes in mobile document destruction. Los Angeles-area businesses and homeowners work with us to eliminate their sensitive, unwanted materials in an environmentally-friendly fashion. With our years of experience, we’ve shown a lot of customers how to keep their information secure… and protected them from the alternative.
You may never have given much thought to identity theft. Life is busy, and if you’re running a company or managing a household, you may look for the most expedient way to handle unwanted documents and electronic media.
Without protective services like mobile document destruction, though, Los Angeles homeowners and businesses become ideal targets for someone to steal their information. According to the California Office of the Attorney General, there were 12.6 million U.S. adult victims in 2012: one victim every three seconds.
Take a moment, and get inside the head of an identity thief.
Protect Your Financial Information
A thief goes through your documents over a period of several weeks. He finds your birthdate, social security number, and a set of bank statements. Then, he takes a trip to your local bank branch.
Using the information, he poses as you and withdraws money from the account. You may not know about the crime until you get your next statement; by then, he has long since moved on to the next victim. You’re left with hours of paperwork and hundreds in losses.
Shredding Your Medical Data
Because of the high cost of medical care, a thief may use your name or health insurance details to schedule an appointment with a doctor; get prescription medications; file claims with your insurance company; or get other services.
The information found in your paper waste can provide him with access to it all. In the meantime, you may face complications with your insurer and credit report.
Destroying Your Tax Details
A social security number is how the IRS ensures that you are filing correctly. An identity thief can use that information to affect your return, however.
If he uses your number when he accepts employment, it can appear as though you haven’t fully reported all of your earnings at the end of the year (and the IRS may want a word with you). Alternatively, a thief can get the tax refund that you are due by posing as you in the tax returns and filing before you do.
Send a Wake-up Call
Identity thieves have a lot of ways they can take advantage of your information, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a victim. Southern California Shredding’s mobile document destruction helps Los Angeles-area customers keep their information private and stop identity thieves from getting their hands on sensitive data.
