Forum Topic

Identity theft from recycling bin

Ok so I'm not the best at shredding ALL personal info before I throw it in the recycling bin but I don't throw away bank statements. However, today I had a bit of a shock when someone left an A4 envelope addressed to me on my doorstep containing some receipts, letters, junk mail etc I had thrown in the recycling bin. Worse still was that there was my signature on one letter and the  items were not only from this month but right date back to April through to last year! These items I certainly would have thrown away months ago! Is someone trying to tell me something?   Should I take action such as cancel my bank cards? It seems quite sinister.

Olivera Babic ● 4595d7 Comments

Hope you've got a cross shredder, rather than the sort that just shreds into strips.

Susan Kelly ● 4593d

Thanks all for your suggestions. There's nothing amiss on my accounts yet but I'm gonna be shredding from now on.

Olivera Babic ● 4593d

I bank with a certain high street bank who enable me to print out my statements (including name and address) at home. Also BT and British Gas enable printing of your current bill which has you name and address on it.

Nigel Brooks ● 4594d

The trouble with that, Bud, is when someone suddenly wants proof of ID in the form of a utility bill or bank statement. For this very reason, I declined my bank's kind offer to stop sending me statements recently. Wonder how long it will be before they want to charge me for them!

Susan Kelly ● 4594d

Good points all - also, go paperless as much as possible. Pretty much everything I do is now

Bud Richards ● 4595d

I don't see why someone who had stolen your identity would warn you in this way, so hopefully it's just a friendly neighbour making a point. That said, I'd be pretty spooked by it. I shred everything with my name and address on it.

Susan Kelly ● 4595d

As a victim of identity cloning in the past I would be on the phone at 8:00am getting my cards etc. stopped and re-issued. I would also be far more diligent about shredding to prevent future episodes of bin-diving.My identity was cloned from web 'snippets of information' and used to perpetrate a huge VAT fraud. Luckily they had a physical description of the 'cloner' but it's certainly not an experience (interviewed by HMRC and Police) that I would ever wish to repeat.

Nigel Brooks ● 4595d