The fastest growing crime in today’s world is identity theft and we are all vulnerable to the possibility of becoming a victim. Sometimes, this is out of our control as our debit and/or credit cards can be compromised through merchants we have entrusted with our personal information. Of course, we all try to protect our cards and pin numbers from everyone possible. But some of our information is available to others and we need to always act wisely to secure it as much as possible.

One of the ways many people are trying to avoid identity theft is by using shredders for personal information disposal. Items that should be shredded are junk mail and old papers including a birth date, signature, or account numbers. It goes without saying that you would shred anything that contains passwords, personal identification numbers or your social security number, with the exception of your Social Security card. It is always a good idea to shred credit card receipts and deposit slips. Other items that you should consider shredding would be preapproved credit card applications, and expired identification health insurance bills and any cards such as driver licenses and passports. Also destroy old canceled checks not needed to support tax documents.

Vigilance toward securing your paperwork will pay off in the long run. People who have had their identity stolen tell horrendous stories of how many months or years it takes them to get everything corrected. It is a terrible situation to be in and, yet, we all tend to believe that it will not happen to us. That, of course, is not necessarily true. So a good shredder can be a very worthwhile investment.