“Nearly 60 million Americans have been affected by identity theft, according to a 2018 online survey by The Harris Poll. That same survey indicates nearly 15 million consumers experienced identity theft in 2017.”
Other staggering statistics about the growing problem of identity theft are below.
Even years ago it was said that, “your mailbox is the riskiest non-technological point for identity theft.” With the incidences of theft out of people’s mailboxes considerably high,
To combat the rising incidences of mailbox theft, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has developed a service called “Informed Delivery” where a computer “scans the outside of your mail and shows you the images each morning before the mail is actually delivered.” You simply sign up for this service and the images are sent to you daily via email.
Once you take your name and address off of your junk mail, you can throw it right into your recycling without any worry that your identity could be stolen, right? Not quite.
“Most people don’t realize it, but junk mail usually has a computer bar code on the front that can sometimes contain personally identifying information.