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!
shredder!
I use a cheap shredder.
I burn them in the wood stove !!
Shred it at work.
I take them to work and put them through the big shredder there since my little one at home doesn’t shred into small enough pieces
Just toss it in the garbage. Yeah, I know.
I use a shredder at home but it overheats after about 20 pages so then I don’t get the job done.
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.
I take them to staples and shred them. Need a personal one of my own
Rip in teeny tiny pieces!
I tear it into tiny pieces
silverneon2000 at yahoo dot com
I rip it into tiny pieces
In a shredder which, unfortunately, does NOT have Jam Blocker.
I rip important documents into tiny pieces. Thanks!
We currently just rip them by hand into strips and then into smaller pieces.
I rip them up and put them in the garbage.
once a year I rip up all the stuff I don’t need anymore. would love a shredder!
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.
I rip stuff up, wish I had a shredder!
Tear them up by hand & throw in the trash
I currently use a cheap shredder. Works but jams a lot.
shredder
Time for Spring shredding!
a cheap shredder that is always jamming!
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.
I have a friend who burns documents. I would prefer to shred them for my security routine.
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
I rip my papers into small pieces.
I shred them or cut up with scissors.
I shred everything !!
I shred everything but it takes a while
We rip it up as much as possible.
Right now I take them to work to shred.
We have a wood stove in our basement, so currently I burn up anything with our important information on it!
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
The old fashioned way, tear it up.
Sadly, the old fashioned way…rip it into a million pieces…
I just cut them up into little pieces but I dont think it is all that safe
i just burn it
My husband works from home and we have a 1-page shredder that doesn’t even do one page without jamming. We NEED one of these!
Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo
i burn them in the fireplace
take it to work and toss it in an industrial shredder
Tear them up by hands into tiny pieces.
I rip them into tiny pieces!
I even tear the labels off my medicine jars!
rip & toss
We’ve started using them in the wood stove.
I rip it in tiny little pieces. Wow, that shredder would be real nice. :)
I rip things up or cut them up with scissors.
I bundle them up and take them into work where we have secure shredding
I rip or cut papers up manually.
A bit of everything — I throw some stuff away in the garbage and put some stuff in the woodstove.
I keep them in an envelope and then take them to my parents to shred, lol!
We had a shredder but its slowly dying.. so they are sitting in a pile to be shredded!!
I don’t, I just pack it away.
Use the shredder or burn in my Mom’s wood stove
The husband shreds, I usually throw in the garbage or give it to him.
I rip everything up as small as I can and throw it in the garbage :/
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.
I take them to my parents to shred or in the summer burn them in the campfire. :)
I use an old cheap shredder
I cut them up into tiny pieces
I rip them up lol
rip them or cut with scissors
I do shred them with an old shredder that can only handle one piece of paper at a time. LOL
I shred the papers and cut the cards with scissors and my hands, this would be wonderful to own!
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 ;) )
I shred them by hand as best I can and put them in the garbage.
i rip them up by hand
Rip it then burn it!
i dont own a shredder
I thought it in the garbage bin!
i rip and throw out
I currently rip out any personally identifying info into tiny pieces
I have a big box waiting for shredding (glad to se I’m not the only one!)
I’ve been keeping it until I get a shredder.
We have a shredder but not one as good as this one.
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.
give our pages to our son with a marker for coloring and craft time lol. then the trash…. we need a shredder
until last week we used a low-end shredder (it died last week). thanks
i rip things up and then put them in the garbage. probably not good enough though.
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.
I use a shredder.
I use an old shredder – it can only handle 1 sheet at a time.
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
I have them all in boxes right now!
I have been ripping them since my shredder broke.
i rip it and throw it…not the safer way!
Rip them up
thanks
I just rip them up.
I use a shredder to dispose of important documents
i take them to work and shred them there.
I tear out the info with my name and address and tear it up and put it with my kitchen garbage.
Rip them up
I just tear them up and throw them out
i rip them up in small pieces
I use a shredder
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!
We just rip our papers up in tiny pieces. A shredder would make things so much easier.
i tear it up… I know i know lol
I rip/cut manually or with scissors.
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.
I use a shredder but it only shreds diagonally
Shredder
Shredder, if I remember to take care of that stuff properly.
Shred at work!
we have a cheap shredder
We use a shredder that is about 10 years old, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t..then I tear up the papers.
I keep everything !
Collect and then set a day for shredding. Although sometimes I cut with scissors which is the case now because my shredder died.
Shred or burn everything
I stack them up and burn them in a bonfire at summer
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
I either burn them or bring them to my sisters house and use her shredder.
Throw them in the garbage
rip them up and throw them in garbage.
I cut them up with scissors.
I shred them using a small shredder we have.
I don’t throw out anything without shredding it. I should buy one for Sara to use in her new flat.
I use personal papers for kindle in my fireplace
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!
i use a shredder and then recycle the paper.
I take them to work and put them through the shredder there as it is much better than mine
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.
Shredder
I try to burn them in my fireplace when I can.
I usually rip it up into tiny pieces.
I use an old shredder that works sometimes, but most times I just tear up into pieces as small as I can.
I have a shredder I use that is at least 10 years old so it is slow and can only do a few pages at a time.
I currently save up stuff and use an old shredder, but usually I rip it up by hand.
Throw it in the recycling :(
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)
I tear them by hand every couple of months.
Cheap shredder, does 3 pages (if you’re lucky)
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.
rip it up and toss it in the garbage
I rip them into itsy, bitsy pieces and sometimes scribble on my name with permanent marker.
I usually just tear them up and compost them.
We cut them up with chive scissors
Rip and throw away
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.
I just cut them up in tiny pieces and put them in separate garbages
I cut up, tear, and rip important pieces, and further poke into other garbage. I don’t own a shredder yet, but will sometime in the near future!
Old shredder that’s on it’s way out.. plus I dived my shredded papers into different garbage and toss at different times
I take everything to my parents place and use their shredder. I could really use my own shredder!
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!!
I tear them into tiny pieces before throwing them in the garbage.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!
my husband ripes them into tiny pieces
A friend brings her’s over and I do a month of it at a time!
I take them to work and shred them there!
I put them in the recycle bin
Depends what it is – sometimes I rip it up sometimes I shred it.
a shredder that jams
At the moment I have to rip everything into tiny pieces and throw it in the garbage.
I usually cut it up into small pieces or keep it all in a grocery bag until I can get a shredder!
I tear them up by hand.
My husband pretty much rips them into little itty bitty pieces!
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.
I currently rip stuff up into little pieces but should use a shredder
I burn it.
Superman style with my bare hands!
Shredder!