One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. If you don’t believe it, ask an identity thief. With a quick call to the sanitation department, thieves can learn the day and time of garbage pickup for a target area. Identity thieves typically strike early in the morning before sunrise or late at night, using darkness to conceal their identity. After finding a secluded area to go through their “haul,” the thieves look for any item that may contain personal identifiers—documents that contain social security numbers, birthdates, mothers’ maiden names and account numbers or passwords all make attractive targets.

Among the hottest items criminals search for these days are checks—even invalid ones. In one case of simple forgery, a thief went on a spending spree after finding supposedly worthless checks from a closed account in the trash. Canceled checks are also a prize. Thieves wash the checks using a chemical process that removes the ink from the paper. Or, by using an off-the-shelf software package available at most office supply stores, they can scan the canceled check and use computer graphics to clean it up and make it look like new. Keep in mind, thieves don’t need the physical check, as just the checking account number will suffice.

Prevention

While no one can guarantee you will not become a victim of identity theft, you can greatly minimize your risk of becoming a victim by implementing a few common sense safeguards:

Invest in a personal shredder.
If you can find one, a cross-cut shredder is your best line of protection. These shredders produce smaller pieces and make it harder for criminals to reconstruct documents. Shred the following documents before placing them out for disposal: pre-approved credit card applications, bank and credit card statements, ATM receipts, cancelled checks, utility bills, insurance forms, magazine mailing labels, obsolete financial records, or any other documents containing sensitive personal information.