After Tax Season Comes Shred Season

Everyone knows that April 15 is the final day to file taxes. Sure, some years it falls on a weekend or holiday, but ask any working adult, and April 15 means one thing. It is D-day, or rather T-day, and everybody knows it.

What many fail to realize, however, is that is also a great time to securely get rid of all the personal records that have been building up over time. The fact is, because the destruction of unnecessary personal records is so often overlooked, most US households have years or even decades of obsolete financial, medical, and insurance records that they no longer need that are putting them at risk.

What risk? Good question.

Personal information is the source of all identity theft. It is also what professional scammers use to create convincing personal phishing emails. And, of course, the longer old records, or old electronics, hang around, and the more of them there are, the harder they are to safeguard and the greater the risk.

One risk is that they will be improperly discarded. Many people think the personal shredder is their only option, but when there’s years’ worth of records, they simply can’t do that, so they toss them with the trash or recycling. 

Another risk is that a housecleaner or other contractor helps themselves to the information, knowing how it can be used. And, however unfortunate, even members of our families are sometimes tempted to misuse the information. It’s not a nice thought, but a significant percentage of ID theft turns out to be an “inside job.”

Other than house and car titles and some insurance records, most of the other personal records that are typically stored away, like banking and credit card receipts, don’t have to be kept for more than a year. Tax filings only need to be retained for three years. Again, the risks are more about the sheer volume of old records that people commonly retain, which is the reason they should be kept at a minimum.

To reduce the risk from accumulated personal records and electronics, they should be securely destroyed at the earliest opportunity, and there is no better option than to call Shred America.

Shred America has high security mobile shredding trucks that can come to you, or you can use our  interactive map to find one of many secure drop-off locations around the country.

In any case, feel free to contact Shred America to fulfill any of your paper or electronic destruction needs today. 

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