A Word to the Wise on Identity Theft…
Dear Editor:
In mid-April, I was at a well-known nationally-recognized copy/delivery service on Biddle Road in Medford, making some copies of personal information (SSNs, Bank Account Numbers, Home & Business Addresses, etc.) to send within an application for business purposes. But I made my copies too large and so I threw the copies into the recycling receptacle located next to one of the copiers.
About a week later I received a phone call from a manager of arestaurant close-by on Biddle Road. The manager asked, “Is this Mr. Akin in Jacksonville? We have a stack of papers, some sort of application, and it contains a lot of very personal information.”
I went down to the restaurant immediately and thanked the manager and retrieved my information. Noting the enlarged type, it didn’t take me long to figure out where this pile of my personal information had come from, and that I had just dodged a serious bullet!
I inquired at the copy/delivery service about their security policies regarding recycled papers from their customers, and was mildly surprised to find that there really was no security. There is no warning signage on the receptacles, and no lock on their outdoor recycling bin. They do have a document shredding service, but one can use their services for years and not be aware of it. Further, in this day and age, one might well assume that general good and professional practice dictates that policy would be conservative when it came to document security, especially a nationwide documents firm that serves so many in the business, government, medical and personal communities.
But making that assumption would be a big mistake!
I have no desire to cite or negatively affect this company. They provide a good service. But they have, to date, been recalcitrant about this. I have spoken to their managers there three times, letting them know how much I and my family could have been hurt, and how much trouble it was to open all new bank accounts, new credit cards, change all auto-withdrawals, etc., and simply suggested they consider taking a few simple steps to protect their clients, including me. In all three cases the managers I spoke with were cordial and generally agreed with me, and vowed to get back to me after they had spoken with corporate people within their company.
It has been over a month now and no one has ever returned a call to me. I went there last week and the outside recycling bin is still insecure, and no warning signs are posted anywhere close to these receptacles.
It is still a mystery why someone had left this pile of personal information about me, my wife, our businesses, our accounts, contact information, SSN’s, etc, on a bench in front of a restaurant, but if he/she/they hadn’t, our person and business accounts, our credit cards, etc. could have been cleared out and/or altered, and we may never have been able to figure out how it happened to us. What a nightmare!
But, should it be believed for a second that mine was the only info surreptitiously taken from that bin? Local law enforcement has informed me that they now know that that particular recycling bin is a target for those with only one purpose in mind: IDENTITY THEFT.
Who knows whether and how many have been hurt, perhaps very seriously by this apparent non-professional practice, but it seems good that the community be warned. I contacted the Medford Tribune today (6/12/13) and spoke with their newsroom representative who told me that they felt this story was not newsworthy.
But I think it might be.
Best regards
Jack Akin, Jacksonville
June 18, 3013