As the saying goes one man's trash can be another man's treasure - especially if that 'man' is trying to steal your identity.
Brunswick County Sheriff Ron Hewett describes dumpster divers as "individuals who go through people's trash looking for driver's license numbers, date of birth, all of these are essential for a person to steal someone's identity and use it for financial gain."
Sheriff Hewett has handled numerous cases of identity theft. He says these types of thieves aren't just after money.
He and other local law enforcement officers say they've seen dumpster divers obtain driver's licenses, utility services and cell phone accounts under victims' names.
Wilmington police detective paul verzaal says he's seen an especially extreme case.
"A person wound up posing as the owner of a house and wound up selling that house to someone else," Verzaal said.
Detective Verzaal says most victims wind up with their credit ruined.
He and Sheriff Hewett agree that in the long run, it's better to try and avoid the problem in the first place.
"It's a tremendous, for lack of a better word, hastle, to get back their credit, get the word out that it was not them," says Hewett.
Verzaal adds, "I would urge everybody to invest 50-100 dollars in a shredder and shred every type of document, credit card applications, anything that might have your personal information on it."
You can help protect yourself from being a victim by joining NewsChannel 3 on Saturday for Shred-It.
It takes place at SunTrust Bank on Oleander Drive in Wilmington, near Independence Mall.
Bring all your personal or business documents, they'll be shredded while you watch. The event runs from 10-to-2.
Only one way to be 100% protected.....
Sign up for one of the services that work with the three credit bureaus to totally freeze your credit reports. I use TrustedID, but I believe there are a few others.
You can actually freeze your reports by dealing with each credit agency yourself, but it's easier to go through one of the services and have them do the legwork. They're fairly inexpensive.
Once frozen, each credit reporting agaency then issues you a PIN that you have to use to temporarily unfreeze your account if you apply for a loan or new credit card. You might want to advise any prospective employer that your credit reports are frozen in case they run a credit report on applicants. It takes two or three days to get an account unfrozen, and you can unfreeze it for a fixed period and for specific inquirers.
The simple fact is that a stolen ID is worthless and will be abandoned immediately if they can't establish credit in your name.
Oh, they also have an "opt out" feature that stops unsolicited credit and loan applications from being sent to you. They also monitor internet and e-mail lists of hot credit card numbers being traded to see if yours suddenly pops up, and offer insurance against ID theft if you ever do fall victim.
Get a post office box, don't place outgoing mail in an unattended location, and freeze your credit reports.....the chances that you'll have your ID stolen will drop to near zero.
Re: 100% protected
Now, that's some good information!!!