Right now, I shred them, but I get at least one a day, and it’s becoming annoying. I rarely use the credit card I have now.
My house mate shreds everything, it seems, and insists that you must shred credit card applications. He even shreds emails that he prints out. He seems to think that there’s a bunch of people dying to read his trash and do something nefarious.
Our trash goes out in front of the house, on a busy street, and is there for maybe an hour or two before it gets picked up. I’ve never seen anyone going through the garbage in the morning.
Anyway, on a credit card application, you have to give your SSN. The only people who have my SSN are the bank, the DMV, and my credit card company. Maybe my HMO. How likely is it those people are going to go through my trash and commit credit fraud? Wouldn’t it be obvious when someone with a different address suddenly applies for a credit card?
How can somebody commit credit fraud without my SSN?
I’ve always heard that SSNs are basically public knowledge and that it’s very easy to get access to someone else’s. I doubt your SSN is as secret as you seem to think it is.
This is not an answer, but I thought it might be an interesting read in regards to the potential ineffectiveness of destroying the credit card applications you get in the mail: link
You really ought to get yourself on the Do Not Mail list for DMA and DirectMail. I signed up years ago and I rarely get anything regarding credit card apps. I don’t shred much stuff anymore…
That torn up credit card link was impressive, but I’ve defeated his system by tearing things up and putting them into multiple trash bags around the house
As far as stealing your ID, they can get the info on the application very easily. But the actual application can be sent in, with the address changed (or they can monitor your mailbox) and a theif can get a CC in your name that way. It happened to me. Got a notice from the Justice Dept and everything.
I’ll do you one better. When I get rid of a credit card, I first cut out the mag strip, numbers and my name, and discard the rest. So I now have three strips of plastic. I then cut the strips the short way many many many times. Each strip is probably cut into 20 peices. I put them in either one or multiple garbages. But here’s the best part. I also take about a half inch section of the part the had the numbers and flush it.
And as far as pulling the mail from the box rather than the trash, why go through every mailbox in a neighborhood and risk being noticed and reported when you can go through everything nicely, if messily, collected in one location?
Some bum opening mailboxes? I better say something to him or at least call someone.
Some bum going through garbage? Poor guy, but someone else’s problem.
And as far as shredding stuff, my kids love feeding the shredder. I just drop the offer part of the cc mail by the shredder and the harmless stuff in the garbage. One of the kids will happily shred it for me within 48 hours…
I have a crosscut shredder, and I shred anything with personal information it. I also don’t empty the basket untill it’s full, and I stir it up before putting the shreds in the trash. I usually put 2-3 baskets in one bag for the trash,
I’ve tried to re-assemble papers treated in this way, but it’ll take someone with a lot more time and patience than I have to successfully do that.
Peace,
mangeorge
BTW; my mail comes in through the door.
I’ll point out that there’s a big (huge) difference between tearing up a paper and shredding it in a good shredder. For one thing, the shredder bits are uniform.
Would a credit card company really process a form that had been taped together? Wouldn’t that be like a big red flashing light? At the very least they could make a call and ask you if you pieced it together.
I throw those things away unopened in the envelope- the thief would have to commit breaking and entering to activate it from your home phone anyway.
Back when people still used personal checks, if I threw one away I would cut off the routing number and eat it, then tear up the rest of it- a bit paranoid, yes.
