What you need to know about paper shredding

What you need to know about paper shredding

Every two seconds another American becomes a victim of identity theft.

While many thieves hit you online through data breaches or compromised accounts, some still rely on old-fashioned methods like mail theft or digging through your trash.

This is why document shredding remains an important tool in the fight against fraud.

In today’s angie’s list report, the dos and don’ts of paper shredding.

Your personal information is everywhere: bills, bank statements, blank checks, credit card offers and magazine subscriptions.

If you don’t take the disposal of this personal information very seriously, it could cost you.
Chris Shepherd a shredding service expert tells Angie’s list, “the main reason is identity theft is the fastest growing criminal act in the world for nine years in a row.
One out of every three people will lose their identity just this year.”

Residential paper shredding reduces the risk of having your confidential documents stolen and used against you.

And shredding companies make it easy.

“a lot of questions are “do you have to prepare the paper?” and you really don’t. That’s what we’re all about. You don’t have to take the staples, the paper clips, all that stuff out of the paper. It all goes right through the shredder, which is very nice and very fast and convenient,” said Shepherd.

“If your new year’s resolution is to get your house organized, getting rid of old documents can be a great approach, but using your own individual shredder can be time-consuming and it can constantly jam, so you might consider hiring a paper shredding company that can do this job in minutes,” said Angie Hicks of Angie’s List.

If you’re going to hire help, look for a company that’s happy to showcase its process. You should be able to watch your items literally go through the shredder so you know your information can’t be pieced back together.

Shepherd said, “that’s our whole concept. You stay and watch. You know it’s done, it’s taken care of, and so you have a peace of mind.”

To reduce the risk of your documents being reconstructed, the shredded material typically goes into bales with multiple customers’ shredded documents before being recycled.

Pricing options vary, but many companies charge by the minute or pound.

Others have their own system that customers can easily understand.

“when you go to the grocery store, they say, “paper or plastic?” a plastic bag full of that, it’s only $5. And then the big brown sack is $10. You bring a typical banker box in, a standard banker box, that’s $15,” said Shepherd
But before you hand over that box or bag, always double check your documents.

“You don’t want to have buyer’s remorse when it comes to shredding, so be sure you look through all your document pile very carefully before you shred.

Otherwise, you could end up shredding something important. Also, be sure the company you’re hiring isn’t actually going to be handling and going through the documents that you’re passing over because, again, you’re doing this for your own protection and privacy,” said Hicks.

“Make sure that there’s not money in there. We do shred money,” said Shepherd.

When looking for a paper shredding company, angie’s list says check to see if it’s certified by the national association of information destruction or n-a-i-d.

Legal Shred
11806 S US Hwy 41
Gibsonton, FL 33534
813-321-4507