Why Homes in Cleveland Need to Shred Their Documents

Most people have security measures in place to protect their families and their important investments. People lock their home and cars regularly to ensure they don’t get stolen, broken into or damaged. But because it’s intangible, people often forget to make the same effort to keep their identity safe. If you have documents with private information in your home, they are at risk of being stolen and used for fraudulent purposes. No matter how good your home security system is, and no matter where you live in Cleveland, you are still vulnerable.

Every year more and more people become victims of identity theft. And sadly, many people have no idea how it even happened in the first place. The unfortunate truth is that it could have been caused by something as simple as having thrown their personal papers in the trash. Because it’s so common that people carelessly throw away medical records, band statements and credit card information, thieves know to target your trash and will dumpster dive to obtain your information. This is why document shredding is important.

There are laws in place at the federal and Ohio state levels that protect victims of identity theft. Federal law decrees that victims are not responsible for any more than $50 in fraudulent charges on their accounts. However, if you factor in the costs of the time and effort spent trying to reorganize a financial situation and rebuild a credit score, the cost of shredding your paperwork before tossing it doesn’t seem so bad.