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Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion

Protect Yourself with #FellowesProtects

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Note: The following giveaway is open to Canadians only.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And I’ve been fooled before: a victim of credit card fraud, over $12,000 was charged to my account in just over six hours. I found out in the most inconvenient fashion; while exiting a parking garage after a rare romantic dinner with my husband, both our credit cards were declined at the checkpoint. Confused and frustrated – though lucky to have carried some cash that day – we arrived home to find two voice messages from VISA, asking us to call their fraud centre immediately.

So, we knew one of our credit cards had been compromised. However, thanks to insurance and card-user safeguards, we wouldn’t be responsible for the fraudulent charges. Still, we were impacted in the following ways:

1) My credit card was immediately cancelled, which meant that for this shopaholic, I had to wait up to 10 business days before a replacement would arrive. As I had holiday shopping to complete, it was highly frustrating.

2) A new card meant a new card number – which required several phone calls to creditors who auto-charge my card monthly. Between the insurance company, the cable company, utilities and various charitable organizations, I reckon I spent hours getting everything updated in their systems.

3) That feeling of being victimized. So, someone got a hold of my financial details and someone went on a shopping spree in San Francisco. But who? And more importantly, HOW?

The truth is, I have no idea how my credit card was compromised. But I immediately realized that there were steps I could take to prevent fraudulent activity; everything from safeguarding my PIN to ensuring that I don’t give thieves access to my personal and banking information – especially via documents that have been carelessly thrown away. Think about it – when was the last time you tossed a credit card statement in the trash? You could have tossed a thief everything he needs to steal your identification.

March is Fraud Prevention Month. According to Sylvain Patry, senior vice president of ProtectionPower.ca and identity theft expert, “shredding documents isn’t just for businesses and people with something to hide. Canadian households are full of documents that contain potentially compromising information.”

Top 10 Documents You Should be Shredding:

1. Monthly Credit Card Statements

2. Employment Paystubs – If you receive pay stubs on a weekly basis or otherwise, you should keep them only until you receive your annual wage and tax statement.

3. Personal Income Tax Reports – You should hold onto these (in a safe place) for five years. However, after five years, it is important that they be shredded.

4. Monthly Utility Bills – This includes anything from hydro bills to cable bills.

5. Spam Mail – Any document you receive by regular mail, including sign-up forms for a new credit card, a magazine subscription, or any other document that contains your personal information, such as your name, home address, phone number, etc.

6. Federal, Provincial or Municipal Government Documents – Examples of this would be your health card, driver’s licence or passport renewal notices, or even a confirmation letter of your children’s school registration for the new school year.

7. Express Mail Documents – Generally invoices or a confirmation of delivery that accompany a letter or package that was delivered to you by UPS, FedEx, or Canada Post Express – even the labels on delivery boxes or envelopes.

8. Membership Notices – If you are a member of any organization, such as a tennis club, fitness club, library, etc., be sure to shred all membership renewal notices and documents accompanying the delivery of membership cards, credit cards, store cards, etc.

9. Banking Documents – This includes bank statements, used bank account booklets, old unused checks, etc…

10. Miscellaneous Documents – Any other documents you receive or possess that contain usernames and passwords.

I’m pleased to partner with Fellowes Canada, the global leader in paper shredder design and engineering, providing the highest quality personal and general office business shredders on the market. With their innovative “Jam Blocker” technology and Energy Savings System, they’ve earned a reputation as the “World’s Toughest Shredders”.

In celebration of Fraud Prevention Month, I’ll be strategically disposing of personal records and information using the Fellowes Powershred 63cb Cross-Cut Shredder. Features:

– Jam Blocker blocks jams before they start
– SafeSense Technology stops shredding when hands touch the paper opening
– Energy Savings System provides optimal energy efficiency 100% of the time – in use and out of use
– Shreds 10 sheets per pass into 5/32”x 2” cross-cut particles (Security Level 3)
– Shreds for up to 8 minutes before a 20 minute cool down period
– One year product warranty and five year cutter warranty

Let me go on record saying this: every home needs a shredder. And Fellowes makes it easy and affordable to safely dispose of all your personal records, thereby reducing the chances of being a victim of identity theft. For the last week, we’ve subjected the shredder to a whole year’s worth of statements and receipts. I’ve shredded old credit cards. I’ve shredded documents with staples and paper clips. I’ve even shredded CDs – yes, CDs!

The Fellowes Powershred 63cb Cross-Cut Shredder operates relatively quietly and is a workhorse when it comes to shredding through statements. We’ve logged hours of use and haven’t encountered a single paper jam yet! Best news: the shredder is currently on sale at Staples Canada for $169.99. Now wouldn’t this be the perfect addition to your home office?

Also, be sure to like Fellowes Canada on Facebook to gain access to a great variety of ID Theft Prevention Resources, including an ID Theft Prevention Kit, Travel Tips, What To Do if You’re a Victim and more.

*Mark Your Calendars* for the #FellowesProtects Twitter Party: Wednesday, March 26th at 9pm EST.

This month, make fraud prevention your priority. One lucky reader will win a Fellowes Powershred 63cb Cross-Cut Shredder valued at $189.99. To enter, simply fill the form below with your qualifying entries. Good luck everyone!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  7. I use a shredder at home but it overheats after about 20 pages so then I don’t get the job done.

  8. A shredder but not as fancy as this one, it is an older model that only likes to shred about 10 pages before you have to give it a break.

  18. I rip them into tiny pieces and toss them in the kitchen garbage. However, I’d love to win the Fellowes Powershred 63cb Cross-Cut Shredder.

  25. I am getting lots of letters from the bank due to not being able to make credit card payments with no job so this would be handy.

  26. I have a friend who burns documents. I would prefer to shred them for my security routine.

  27. I cut them up with scissors and toss in the garbage or wait till I have a big bundle and burn them in the summer time when we decide that we are going to have a fire

  34. We have a wood stove in our basement, so currently I burn up anything with our important information on it!

  35. I rip off the personal information and keep it in a bag until I have enough to take to my parent’s house (where they have Fellowes shredder they love) and then shred them

  51. A bit of everything — I throw some stuff away in the garbage and put some stuff in the woodstove.

  53. We had a shredder but its slowly dying.. so they are sitting in a pile to be shredded!!

  58. right now Im piling them up but at our old house we burned them. years ago my hubby was just throwing them in the garbage and we had someone charge a lot of money from a shopping network on ours. we were very lucky that they wiped it off. Police said there wasnt much they could do, they had an address where the stuff was going. not sure how any of that turned out.

  64. I do shred them with an old shredder that can only handle one piece of paper at a time. LOL

  65. I shred the papers and cut the cards with scissors and my hands, this would be wonderful to own!

  66. I have a shredder that I need to get fired up to shred a couple of bags full of old documents (been meaning to do that since I moved, just haven’t gotten around to it). Before I got the shredder, i used to rip them by hand and put them in separate bags or burn them in the fireplace (wood burning – made good tinder ;) )

  77. Tear things up by hand, cut up cards with scissors (that’s fun… ) and once in a blue moon, if we’re visiting my father-in-law, we’ll bring some papers to be shred.

  78. give our pages to our son with a marker for coloring and craft time lol. then the trash…. we need a shredder

  81. I do not have a shredder. I send home my papers with my grandson, he has down syndrome and will spend hours and hours every single day shredding papers, he sells the shredded paper to a man who uses it to start his fires in for his business.

  84. I cut out my personal information part first (like name, account no. etc.) and then use scissors to cut them into pieces before I throw them out

  97. Oh god, I need this I need this I need this. Right now I cut all of my private documents manually in thin little strips with scissors. Makes for one very painful hand afterwards!

  101. We haven’t very often-I am nervous about just throwing it out. We have talked about getting a shredder but just haven’t gotten around to it.

  107. We use a shredder that is about 10 years old, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t..then I tear up the papers.

  109. Collect and then set a day for shredding. Although sometimes I cut with scissors which is the case now because my shredder died.

  112. We have well used small shredder. It is about five years old & I think the blades are no longer sharp. Thus everything goes into a bin and sits there. A new shredder is much needed

  118. I don’t throw out anything without shredding it. I should buy one for Sara to use in her new flat.

  120. I’ve used a shredder for about 10 yrs! It is obviously a little outdated and only shreds documents into strips….so I’d really like this new modern cross shredder…pretty please!

  123. We do shred our papers but our shredder has a tendency to jam. Would be nice to have one that continuously shred without stopping to remove jammed papers.

  127. I use an old shredder that works sometimes, but most times I just tear up into pieces as small as I can.

  131. I rip them in small pieces then throw them in the fireplace to be burned (I don’t know why I rip them, they are going to be burned anyway)

  134. I use a shredder but it’s seen better days! It stops working after less than a minute and has to rest for over 10 minutes before it starts again.

  136. I rip them into itsy, bitsy pieces and sometimes scribble on my name with permanent marker.

  140. We need a new shredder, burnt some last time at the cottage. I love the safety of knowing our info is kept safe by shredding it before recycling.

  143. Old shredder that’s on it’s way out.. plus I dived my shredded papers into different garbage and toss at different times

  144. I take everything to my parents place and use their shredder. I could really use my own shredder!

  145. Right now, I have been cutting them up in tiny pieces and throwing them out, or having someone shred them for me. I NEED a shredder!!

  147. I am entering your giveaway.
    It would be great to win a Fellowes Powershred 63cb Cross-Cut Shredder.
    In response to your question of
    How do you currently dispose of your personal statement and records?
    I tear them up into small pieces and throw them in the garbage.
    Thank you for having this giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!

  154. At the moment I have to rip everything into tiny pieces and throw it in the garbage.

  158. We burn them in the fireplace when we remember, which is only during the winter months. Until then it just builds up. Not the best way to go about it.