You’ve worked hard all year, filed your tax return, and are waiting anxiously for your refund cheque. It finally arrives in the mail, but you never see it because a thief has stolen it directly from your mailbox. Or, worse yet, someone has already lodged a return in your name and taken your hard-earned refund. Sound farfetched? It’s not. Both here and in the United States, thieves operating this lucrative scam have actually lodged tax returns under other people’s names and claimed the refunds before victims even know what has happened. What can be done to keep this from happening to you?
Mobile Shredding Leads To Document Security
We firmly believe in the power of shredding. How do thieves get the information to lodge a tax return in your name? They steal it, likely from paper you’ve thrown into your rubbish bin. Shredding confidential paper with any sort of identifying information such as your full name, account numbers, and other personal identification numbers can go a long way toward preventing identity theft. And, because no one wants to spend an entire day feeding individual pieces of paper into a small home shredder, Shred On Site is holding a Shred On Site Day. Bring any and all of your confidential papers and we’ll shred them for you in our mobile shredding vehicle. The Shred Day will be held at Elwood Primary School Community Market on Scott Street in Elwood on 6 December from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is a limit of five archive boxes with a gold coin donation for each box to raise money for Elwood Primary.
Identity Fraud Is Real And Pervasive
When you think about identity theft, you probably just think about someone opening a credit card in your name, or perhaps using your existing credit card to go on a shopping spree. That may be how it was 10 years ago, but now the schemes are becoming more and more complex. People are going to the extreme of lodging tax returns under false names. This should be unbelievable, but unfortunately it is all too true. Many people now assume that identity theft is impossible to prevent. At Shred On Site, we want to help educate people as much as possible on the dangers of identity theft and on how to stop it from happening to you. Our Shred On Site Day can help do just that.
Don’t forget to look in all of the drawers in your office or bedroom – wherever you store your confidential documents. Even documents that are years old can be used for identity theft. Shred them now and be secure in the future. Keep this in mind, too: the more you do electronically, the less you have to shred and the less you have to worry about someone stealing your identity. Stealing papers out of a rubbish bin is much simpler than hacking someone’s computer or the Australian Taxation Office’s confidential files. File your return online and receive your payment directly into your bank account this year. In the meantime, come to our Shred On Site Day!
If you have more than five boxes of confidential papers, or you can’t make to the Shred On Site Day on the 6th December, you can still call Shred On Site on 1300 558 876 to get a quote and they will come to you.
Listen to the original Radio National news story about identity theft and the lodging of tax returns in the US.
