Our Rubbish Puts Two In Three Australians In Danger Of Identity Theft!

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Our Rubbish Puts Two In Three Australians In Danger Of Identity Theft!

Two in three Australian households are in danger of being victims of identity theft because of our rubbish. A new research found that many identities are stolen from thieves who go through our garbage bins. One in five have already reported to have been crime victims with their identities stolen by shady thieves.

But short of going through your rubbish bin by hand thieves are much more smarter than that: they use recycling bins to fetch your private details as some 84 per cent of them contain credit cards, papers and other documents needed by these ID thieves. Identity theft is Australia’s fastest growing crime.

This first ever research was undertaken for our National Identity Fraud Awareness Week (October 5 -11, 2009). As part of the research the content of domestic general rubbish and recycling bins in a major metropolitan suburb was analysed.

More than 50 per cent of all bins surveyed contained documents that could be used in a 100-point ID check. These include Medicare and Centrelink cards, driver’s licenses, utility bills and bank statements.

Several of the bins analysed even contained personal information, complete with photos and signatures. Others yet contained tax return documents, motor registration documents, medical records, contracts of sale from the Land Titles Office and PIN details for credit and debit cards. Some materials had been cut up, but not sufficiently to destroy the identifying details.

The Chairman of Crime Stoppers Australia, Peter Price said: “It is almost beyond belief what people throw out. We found an online banking card and letter complete with account name, number, and access code as well as an unsigned credit card. Every time we put our bins out for collection, most of us are putting ourselves at risk of identity theft.”

“Detailed biographical information taken from bank statements, utility bills and other personal documents commonly found in household rubbish can be worth their weight in gold to identity thieves.”

“Shredding all personal information before it leaves the house is the only way to ensure that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

National Marketing Manager for Fellowes Australia, Peter Campbell said he was shocked by the bin raiding results and hoped it would make people think twice about how they dispose of their personal information.

He said: “All it takes is a combination of a few key pieces such as your date of birth, address and bank account details or even your tax file number, to give someone the proof of identity they need to create new forms of ID, access your bank accounts, steal your tax refunds and rack up huge credit card bills.”

“To rectify the damage and reinstate your credit rating can take years and many thousands of dollars, never mind all the stress and inconvenience, so it really pays to take few minutes to shred your personal mail before it goes in the bin.”

Peter Campbell said that one of the biggest problems was personally addressed junk mail.

“One third of the items found in recycling bins were junk mail and newsletters. Anything giving your name and address is of value to fraudsters and should be delivered to a locked mailbox and shredded after use.”

The waste research, which followed strict guidelines to guarantee the privacy of those whose waste was examined, was commissioned by Fellowes Australia and conducted by EC Sustainable Environment Consultants.

Click here to find out more about National Identity Fraud Awareness Week and be sure to read our guide to Preventing Credit Card Fraud, Traps and Scams

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