In today's information driven world, you can never be too careful when discarding documents you no longer need. Identity theft is more common than ever, and even the most basic information can be useful to a malicious person if he is determined. When you're ready to dispose of unneeded documents, you should definitely shred them! Now you're probably asking - What documents should I shred?
The easy answer: Anything that has a signature, account number, social security number, or medical or legal information (plus credit offers).
The complete answer:
- Address labels from junk mail and magazines
- ATM receipts
- Bank statements
- Birth certificate copies
- Canceled and voided checks
- Credit and charge card bills, carbon copies, summaries and receipts
- Credit reports and histories
- Documents containing maiden name (used by credit card companies for security reasons)
- Documents containing names, addresses, phone numbers or e-mail addresses
- Documents relating to investments
- Documents containing passwords or PIN numbers
- Driver's licenses or items with a driver's license number
- Employee pay stubs
- Employment records
- Expired passports and visas
- Unlaminated identification cards (college IDs, state IDs, employee ID badges, military IDs)
- Legal documents
- Investment, stock and property transactions
- Items with a signature (leases, contracts, letters)
- Luggage tags
- Medical and dental records
- Papers with a Social Security number
- Pre-approved credit card applications
- Receipts with checking account numbers
- Report cards
- Resumés or curriculum vitae
- Tax forms
- Transcripts
- Travel itineraries
- Used airline tickets
- Utility bills (telephone, gas, electric, water, cable TV, internet)
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