Top Reasons Why the Answer is Yes

While utility bills and other similar monthly statements may seem innocuous, the fact is they contain personal information that is invaluable to identity thieves. Your name, address and account number is all that an ID thief needs to steal your information. In the wrong hands, this data can be exploited for identity theft, fraud or other unscrupulous activities. Shredding your utility bills ensures that such information is rendered unreadable, protecting your personal information. Here are the top reasons why you should be shredding these and other bills:

1. Fraud Protection

Armed with the information found on utility bills, criminals can open accounts, take out loans in your name or make unauthorized transactions. Victims of this type of fraud have suffered losses, damage to their credit and more. Shredding these documents with a professional shredding service ensures that they are irreversibly destroyed, protecting you and your confidential information.

2. Protecting Your Personal Information

ID theft is a continually growing problem across the world. Those looking to steal your ID continue to become more and more savvy and can piece together your confidential information with just tidbits of data. So although throwing your utility bill in the trash or recycling bin may seem harmless– it’s a major risk.

3. Preventing An Account Takeover

For an ID thief, stealing your information is just the first step–once they have even just a small amount of personal information, they are poised to gain control of your account, impersonate you and gain access to other accounts. Shredding these bills ensures that your information stays private and your account safe.

4. Reducing Paper Waste

Shredding your utility bills helps reduce paper waste, which in turn helps the environment. Professional shredding companies securely recycle shredded documents after permanently destroying them.

5. Maintaining Privacy

In today’s digital age, maintaining privacy can be challenging. With data breaches happening daily, hackers and frauds have numerous avenues to steal your personal information. Protecting yourself and keeping your information safe is crucial and is something that requires vigilance and consistency.

Shredding utility bills and other paper documents is a crucial step in reducing your risk of ID theft. Any paperwork that has your name, address or other personal information, should be shredded by a professional shredding company once it is no longer needed.

All Points Mobile Shredding provides full service shredding and destruction to residential and business customers throughout Florida. Our state-of-the-art shredding trucks come directly to you at your home or office and perform the shred onsite. This allows you to witness the entire process, giving you additional peace of mind that your confidential information is protected. Give us a call or complete the form on this page to get more information.