Report: New victim of identity theft every two seconds
UPDATE: Without A Trace Mobile Shredding says that 27,760 pounds of paper were shredded during the Shred-A-Thon.
PORTLAND (WGME) – CBS 13 hosted our annual Shred-A-Thon Friday at our studios in Portland.
It was a great chance to tidy up around the house and make sure any sensitive documents are properly destroyed.
Many of the people who stopped by throughout the day say they're concerned about identity theft, and that's why they came by with stuff to shred.
The concern makes sense, a new report finds there's a new victim of identity theft every two seconds.
By the box, or by the bag, Without a Trace Mobile Shredding was back in our parking lot for this year's Shred-A-Thon.
“Any piece of paper people need to make sure goes away, we'll take care of it,” Brad Manter of Without a Trace said.
David Leach with the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection says one mistake people make is putting documents with personal information in the trash.
“We think of electronic identity thieves, but there are low-tech, that will actually pick your garbage to find out what bank accounts you have, who you have your insurance with and all that financial information,” Leach said.
Identity theft can lead to identity fraud.
“Identity fraud is the action where someone has opened an account in your name, a credit account, prescription drugs, rented an apartment, and that's when you start talking about dollars and cents,” Leach said.
The most recent data comes from 2017, which found 1 in 15 people were victims of identity fraud, adding up to nearly 17 million victims.
