If you’re living in the United States in today’s day and age, the threat that you will become a victim of identity theft is likely higher than you even know. After all, nearly a quarter of all people (around 24% of them, to be just a bit more specific) are not even aware that such a thing has happened to them – and they only discover that their identity has been stolen through mistake, meaning that the perpetrator of this crime has likely had quite some time to make matters worse and worse for the victim in question. And in just one year alone – at least, according to data that was gathered back in the year of 2017 – there will be well over 16 million people victimized by identity fraud all throughout the United States, let alone elsewhere throughout the world.
But though the prospect of becoming any kind of victim to identity fraud can most certainly be a frightening one, there are absolutely steps that can be taken to protect yourself against this. First and foremost, it is hugely important to be aware of how identity fraud works and how you can become a victim to it. For instance, far too many people think that identity theft, in the modern world that we live in, only occurs through online platforms. However, this is not the case and it is actually a well supported fact that the brunt of the identity theft cases seen throughout the country can be traced back to paper documents – paper documents that were not properly disposed of, for that matter. And with many a company and office space still relying on paper filing systems, the fact that only just over 70% of the total population of this country regularly shred documents is something of a huge concern.
Fortunately, more and more companies have deemed the security of the records that they keep to be one of their top priorities. Switching to a digital method of storage can be one way to keep such documents all the safer, but even just hiring something like an industrial shredder can actually go a long way in preventing any kind of identity theft – and buying a high security paper shredder is even more cost effective in many cases. Of course, the high security paper shredder or industrial office shredder is not something that is likely to come cheap, but many a company considers the implementation of the high security paper shredder and industrial shredder machine to be more than worth the investment at the end of the day.
Even outside of the office space and high security paper shredder, the average person will need to shred important documents over the course of day to day life as well. While you as an individual person might not need something as intense – and as bulky – as the typical high security paper shredder, you don’t need an industrial high security paper shredder in order to have a successful way to shred your documents and protect your identity. As an alternative to this high security paper shredder, you might actually consider investing in something like a smaller scale secure paper shredder. Such secure paper shredding can even be done with secure paper shredders so small that you can keep on in your desk drawer. As long as you are preventing any critical information from falling into the wrong hands, you are doing it right – and the tool that you have chosen for this role is the proper one, for that matter.
Ultimately, the thought of having your identity stolen is truly frightening thing. Even more frightening is the fact that so many people do not even realize that they have been the victim of identity theft until it is too late to do anything about it. Fortunately, being proactive and taking steps to mitigate the chances of becoming such a victim can go a long way. For a huge number of people and larger companies alike, paper shredding through the use of a high security paper shredder or other such shredder is the way to go about this.
