We read about it. Some members have had it happen to them. An article by Jean Chatzky brought out some facts that surprised me:
- In the last 2 years there have been nearly 20 million victims (one every few seconds).
- To fix your credit back takes an average of 175 hours (over a month of full time work) and over $1,000.
We know we should shread paperwork. I picked up a free shredder at Office Depot some months ago and use it to shred any credit cards, expired or not; any credit card or check solicitations that come through the mail; checks to use against your credit cards; anything with revealing personal information on it.
A major point is that credit cards are much safer than checks. Jean suggests that you not write checks for purchases or to hand to people you don't know. Use them for utility payments that you send by mail, if you must. I pay almost everything from my bank account online, or will use my credit card to get frequent flyer miles.
This happened to me a few years back. Stolen checks and then all h--- broke lose. Thankfully a very bright policeman found the perpetrators and I was able to reverse most of the damage. Frightening at the very least, possibly life changing.
Sincerely,
William
Jacob - you're welcome.
Endea - interesting! I didn't know the keys had more than your room number on them, which could be matched at Registration or in Accounting. I've been keeping many as souvenirs.
William - I doubt that most of us even know all we have in our purses or wallets. Hopefully we don't leave checks in our desk drawers or any other accessible places.
Kay - you're living proof that using a credit card was good protection - they stopped the theft before it got too far.
Kevin - you're right! I read that some of the shredders now have output that's like confetti.