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                MyBinding Blog > paper shredding machine

                Five Creative Uses for Shredded Paper

                September 22, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                Shredder-bagShredding paper has become common in both the home and the workplace ever since identity theft started occurring at a startling pace. (Paper shredders are also more affordable than ever before.) Whether you shred just occasionally (say, to get rid of unsolicited credit card offers) or you shred a high volume of paper on a daily basis, there’s always the question of what to do with your shreds. Here’s a few ideas for you.

                1.) Recycling. If nothing else, you can always recycle your shreds. In fact, you should do this as opposed to throwing them in the trash. This prevents the landfills from getting even fuller and it helps save trees. Recycling is easy so you can take care of it quickly and then be done with it. Alternatively, you could compost the shreds if you prefer.
                2.) Starting fires. You can definitely use your shreds to help start a fire whether you’re at home or out in the woods. This is a great alternative to newspaper and lighter fluid since you won’t have to pay for the shreds and you need to get rid of them anyway. (Just be careful when starting your fire!)
                3.) Packing material. Shipping costs are always on the rise. Whether it’s stamps, boxing, or packing materials, these supplies get even more expensive with each passing year. But if you have a paper shredder, you can cut down on your costs by using your shreds as packing material. Just save the bits after you empty your machine’s waste bin and you’ll have something with which you can line your boxes. (This is especially true if you shred a lot of paper regularly.) If you have a cardboard shredder, you can also use that material when preparing your shipments.
                4.) Gift bags. Do you have a bunch of newspapers or magazines you want to get rid of? If so, you should run them through your shredder so you can use them in gift bags. This is a great, cost-effective alternative to commercial filler and the recipient of your gift will be impressed with your ingenuity.
                5.) Pet supplies. Pets enrich many people’s lives and if you have some of your own, your shreds can come in handy. For one thing, you can place some in your pocket pet’s cage so your critter can make a comfy nest out of it. You could also use the shreds to fill up a larger bed for your dog or cat. When you need to wash the cover, you can recycle the shreds and stuff new ones in after the cover has dried. (This will cut down on smells and give you a use for your new shreds.) Also, you might want to consider using your shreds in your cat’s litter box. That way, you can save money on kitty litter and your pet can remain comfortable. (Clay litter is tough on a cat’s paws and can cause problems if your pet has recently been declawed.)

                Shredding your paper can not only protect your identity, it can provide you with enough material for a variety of other uses from protecting items during shipping to making your pet happy. Shred your documents today with a high-security shredder so you can stay safe and get more use out of them.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, shredding machine, shreds

                Ten Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Identity Theft

                September 9, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

                destroyit-2360-smc-sm1 With identity theft still on the rise, it’s more important than ever to take the necessary precautions to keep yourself safe. People are being more careful with their information. But how can you be sure you’re doing enough? While there are always extremes lengths you could take, here is a list of key steps to protect your information.

                1. Only carry with you what you need. When leaving the house to shop or dine out, take the debit or credit card you plan to use as well as your ID. There’s no need to bring every card you possess and doing so increases your risk. If a potential thief sees your open wallet bursting with credit cards, you’ve immediately raised your risk. Even without a thief catching a glimpse of the contents, in the case of a random purse snatching or a lost satchel, having a card or two at home will help to cover your expenses until new cards can be issued.
                2. Don’t carry your social security card in your wallet. That also goes for your passport and birth certificate. These are key items in stealing someone’s identity. They are better kept in a secure location, such as a safe or even a safety deposit box.
                3. Try not to put your social security number, driver’s license number, or phone number on your checks. Better yet, try not to use checks at all. They contain your account number as well as personal information and are an easy way for a thief to leach money out of your account.
                4. Be vigilant about checking your monthly bank and credit card statements. Immediately report any activity that is out of the ordinary. The sooner you report any suspected fraud, the quicker it can be resolved.
                5. Send bill payments from the post office. A locking mailbox at your house is fine to use as well. You can also use your bank’s online bill pay service, which is more secure than mailing a check.
                6. Check your credit report at least once a year. You are legally guaranteed one free report annually. Look carefully for any irregularities and report them as soon as possible.
                7. Immediately report any lost or stolen cards. Even if you think you know where it is, it’s better to report the card as lost just in case. Check your mail often until the new card arrives. If you don’t receive it within 15 days, call the company. The same goes for any reissued cards you may be expecting.
                8. Shred everything confidential. Especially anything containing your personal or financial information. Even preapproved credit card offers should be destroyed before disposing; having a card issued in your name is a prime way for thieves to glean your information.
                9. Make a list or photocopy of all your credit and debit card numbers, bank accounts, investments, and insurance account numbers with expiration dates and phone numbers for customer service and fraud reporting. Keep it in a secure place, such as a safe. This way you have all the necessary information including contact numbers in case your purse or wallet is stolen.
                10. Write “see photo ID” on the backs of your credit cards in permanent ink. Doing so will hopefully cause merchants to follow your request and catch any would-be users. Don’t grumble when asked for ID. Doing so will only encourage workers to stop checking and you’d hate for it to be your stolen card when an ID wasn’t asked for.

                While this isn’t a completely comprehensive list, following these tips will help prevent identity theft from happening to you.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, shredding machine, shreds

                Checking For Identity Theft

                June 12, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

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                With identity theft a growing and persistent problem, you should do everything in your power to keep your information safe. Here are some ways to make sure you are not being victimized.

                Statements:

                Every time you receive a statement from your bank or credit card company, you should go over it with a fine tooth comb. A lot of times identity thieves will only do a little bit of damage before moving on, or will send you bills for companies you have not had nay business with, or will set you up for an automatic bill pay without your knowledge. If you see anything of the sort on your statements, contact the institution in question right away to let them know what is going on.

                Bank statements should be especially scrutinized, as there are many ways to remove money from your account without your immediate knowledge. You could, for instance, have had some checks stolen or had your debit or credit card number lifted from any number of sources. Again, it is worth noting that identity thieves will not necessarily go for the big score all the time, and may just make an occasional purchase that they hope will not be noticed. Look over each and every purchase, withdrawal, and other transaction and make sure that it is something that either you did, or was authorized by you.

                Credit Report:

                At least once a year and perhaps twice, you should make the effort to check your credit report via one or all of the major credit agencies. Take the information they provide you with and give it a good going over. Look for accounts that do not belong to you, loans that you haven’t taken out, and any other sort of transaction that you don’t know anything about. Make note of any inaccuracies and report them immediately to all of the credit agencies.

                Prevention:

                You may be surprised that there is no law against going through another person’s trash. Identity thieves do this on a regular basis to get certain types of documents that you may have carelessly thrown away. The best and easiest solution for this is to purchase a high quality shredder, and to use it on a regular basis. The shredder you buy should shred documents into a confetti-like cross cut pattern rather than long and straight strip cuts, as the cross cut paper shreds are virtually impossible to piece back together.

                Some of the documents that you should shred when you are discarding include, of course, bank statements, credit card statements, credit card and loan applications that you are not going to use, any documents that contain your social security number or signature, and any medical or legal information.

                You should also give serious thought to shredding:

                Address labels, ATM receipts, copies of birth certificates (not the original), canceled, voided, or old checks, and check copies, investment documents, items containing driver’s license numbers, PIN numbers, pay stubs, tax documents (copies, or originals when allowed by law), and expired passports. This list is by no means exhaustive, but should get you started in keeping your mind on ways to keep your identity safe.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, shredding machine, shreds

                Shredding Laws and Your Business

                April 17, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

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                It is no longer a matter of common courtesy for you and your business to shred your customers’ confidential information. The rise in identity theft crimes has caused congress to act by passing three major pieces of legislation that require businesses to completely destroy any documents containing certain kinds of sensitive information before discarding. The penalties and fines can be steep, ranging from $1000 to $500,000, not to mention the risk of civil litigation and liability. The three pieces of legislation are known as FACTA, HIPAA, and GLB. In this article we will dive into each of these regulations, how you can best comply, and what the risks of non-compliance are.

                1. Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act. Also known as FACTA, This law was signed into effect in 2003. FACTA was designed specifically to reduce the growing risks of credit, idenity, and consumer fraud, by requiring businesses to properly destroy confidential information upon discarding it. Not only applying to businesses, the disposal rule essentially applies to every person in the US. The information that must be discarded include: address information, employment histories, credit histories, and social security numbers. The penalties for non-compliance can be pretty steep. Other than putting yourself at risk for a civil suit and the attending legal costs, if it can be proven that your mishandling of sensitive info resulted in an identity crime being committed, your state can fine you $1000 per infraction, and the feds can nip you for $5000 per incidence.
                2. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Known as HIPAA, this regulation applies to the health care industry, and is intended to prevent abuses of personal health information, including unauthorized access. The Institutions that are required to comply with the regulation are called “Covered Entities,” and include all organizations and even individuals, who collect health-care related information. This can include doctors, urgent care centers, hospitals, billing centers, and even collection agencies. According to HIPAA, all covered entities must have documented policies that define the measures they have instituted to prevent unauthorized access. Non-compliance in this case could cost the offender a whopping $500,000.
                3. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The GLB Act applies to financial institutions and requires any companies that are engaged in financial activities go provide secure handling of client records and information. Companies that would be included in this are banks, mortgage companies, insurers, and investment houses.

                You may be surprised to hear that it is not against the law for someone to go through your trash. A 1988 Supreme Court ruling stated that once the trash is left for pickup, it is public domain. This is an easy way for your business to lose its competitive edge, as well as its customers’ confidential information. With the ease and convenience that is afforded by having your own shredders in house, there is no reason for your business to put itself at risk. One quick and easy solution is for all of your employees who handle and regularly discard confidential information to have their own desk side shredders. Or you can place a larger shredder in a central location in your office. Either way, you need to make sure that you protect your business and your clients by shredding all confidential information.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shred, shredders, Shredding, shredding machine

                Six Easy Ways to Prevent Identity Theft

                April 15, 2010 by Jeff McRitchie Leave a Comment

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                These days, there is no bigger threat to your financial security than identity theft. It is alarming how many ways those who would seek to defraud you are finding to get at your sensitive information. Here are a few ways you can help prevent identity theft from ever happening.

                1. Get A Paper Shredder: This is the easiest way of all to protect your sensitive information. In fact, it is almost unthinkable that you would still be merely throwing away or recycling anything that has your personal information on it. It should go without saying that all of your credit card and bank statements, if they are not filed, should be destroyed by a shredding, by you, on site. One item that also needs to be destroyed, that might go unnoticed, however, is credit card applications. They can often fall into the wrong hands and be used by someone else to obtain credit in your name. To the shredder with them!
                2. Protect your PIN: Whenever you use an ATM or a debit card at a grocery store, it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look over your shoulder to make sure that no one is watching you key in your secret code number. There is no end to the damage a criminal can do armed only with your name and PIN.
                3. Keep The Check Out Of The Mail: If at all possible, have checks you have coming in directly deposited to your bank account. Conversely, if you still use personal checks to pay your bills, take them to the post office, or put them in a US mail box yourself. Identity thieves love to watch for people to put out their mail and then steal it before the mail person arrives to pick it up.
                4. Check Your Monthly Statements: Often, identity thieves will make purchases with your accounts that are so small you may not notice them right away. Look at your statement closely for anything you may not have purchased. If you notice anything that you don’t recognize investigate it further. Don’t be afraid to call your bank or the credit card company and ask questions about a specific transaction.
                5. Carry The Bare Minimum With You: You should have your social security number memorized, and if you don’t, do it now. There is no reason to keep the card in your wallet, and the same rule applies to any credit cards you don’t use. If your wallet or purse is stolen you don’t want the thieves to have your SSN or access to a huge number of credit cards.
                6. Get To Know FACTA: In 2005, the government put in place regulations that require businesses to destroy any sensitive information derived from their clients or customers before throwing it away. Known as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, it was put in place to help ensure that identity thieves-or anyone else for that matter– can’t get their hands on any of your confidential information. Though it is likely that the people you do business with are in compliance with the law, is doesn’t hurt to ask. Just as you should have a shredder, those whom you do business with should too.

                Again, the easiest way to make sure that your most sensitive information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to destroy it. If everyone used a shredder, it is safe to say that identity theft would happen a lot less often. Follow these six simple steps and help protect yourself from identity theft today.

                Filed Under: Paper Shredding Tagged With: paper shredder, paper shredding machine, shredders, Shredding, shredding machine, shreds

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