Here in the United States, cases of identity theft are very prevalent. In fact, as many as 16.7 million people will become victims of such a crime on a yearly basis, according to data that was gathered back in the year of 2017. As time has passed on, this crime has become more and more prevalent.
Unfortunately, many people do not even realize that they have become victims of such a crime until late in the game. In fact, very nearly one quarter (around 24%, to be just a bit more specific) of all people who become a victim of identity theft only find about it by sheer accident. At this point, it is likely that their finances have sustained a considerable loss. While some of this money might be able to be returned, it is all too likely that not all of it will be.
Fortunately, however, there are ways in which you can protect yourself from the threat of having your identity stolen. For one thing, investing in a high security paper shredder is one such way. High security paper shredders come in all sizes, making getting a hold of high security paper shredders easier than you might realize. Shredding your documents that contain personal and sensitive information is highly important, though more than one third of people do not do this. Unfortunately, this sets them up for identity fraud. But high security paper shredders can greatly reduce the chances of something like identity fraud ever happening, something that will be hugely beneficial and make the investment into these high security paper shredders more than worth it.
Of course, secure paper shredding should not occur only on a personal level, but on the level of businesses and companies as well. Ideally, high security paper shredders will also be prevalent in various business establishment. Regularly and routinely using these high security paper shredders will help to ensure that your customers stay your customers, as up to 40% of all customers will cease to do business with a company or business once a security breach has occurred. Fortunately, commercial paper shredders capable of level 6 shredding make the likelihood of such a thing happening very small indeed. These high security paper shredders can even also double as high capacity paper shredders, something that will help to ensure that paper shredding a larger company or business will occur more easily and quickly than ever before – all without compromising standards and security.
But as important as paper shredding with the help of high security paper shredders really and truly is, identity theft can occur in other ways as well. For instance, bad online habits can put you at risk of identity theft. With now more than three and a half billion people using the internet on a worldwide scale, the potential for identity theft is higher than ever before. And only around half of all people actually monitor and restrict where they are plugging in their information on various online sites. Doing so can protect you from a world of harm in regards to identity theft, but failing to do so can set you up for it. Therefore, cultivating safe online habits of nothing if not an absolute must in the world where the internet is playing a more and more prominent role. Ultimately, internet safety is not something that should be forgotten about and is certainly not something that should ever fall by the wayside.
The concept of having your identity stolen is a frightening one. Fortunately, taking steps to protect your identity and prevent your personal information from leaking into the world can save you a great deal of stress. However, closely monitoring your financial information can also work to keep you safe, as a case of identity theft that is caught early on is going to be much easier to deal with than one that is not detected until much later, when likely much more damage has been done. For many people, this can mean a significant loss of money – sometimes even permanently. Ultimately, this is not something that should be taken lightly and taking as many protective steps as possible is necessary.
