brwnone asked:
I am slightly worried about a breach in my private information. 10-11 months ago my laptop hard drive was thrown out. I had deleted any financial information and personal information a year prior to throwing out th drive. I used the computer 3-4 hours a day for music, videos and other daily use. Does identity theft often occur from this sort of thing, even though i had deleted all my info months prior? would i know by now? I lived in an apartment complex and the 2 years i lived there i never saw anyone pawing through the 4 dumpsters there. I didnt just simply toss it, i hid it very well in the trash..i think in a bag of cat poop. I also found out that the waste from my complex is incinerated. Am i ok? I have aleady checked my credit report recently.
Thanks!
WARD
I am slightly worried about a breach in my private information. 10-11 months ago my laptop hard drive was thrown out. I had deleted any financial information and personal information a year prior to throwing out th drive. I used the computer 3-4 hours a day for music, videos and other daily use. Does identity theft often occur from this sort of thing, even though i had deleted all my info months prior? would i know by now? I lived in an apartment complex and the 2 years i lived there i never saw anyone pawing through the 4 dumpsters there. I didnt just simply toss it, i hid it very well in the trash..i think in a bag of cat poop. I also found out that the waste from my complex is incinerated. Am i ok? I have aleady checked my credit report recently.
Thanks!
WARD
#1 by Sgt Big Red on October 11, 2009 - 9:58 am
PERCY
Well if your credit report does not list any unknown accounts in your name or any collections in your name then you are safe in that aspect.
If you have not yet done so, you should change all your passwords with your financial accounts. This will ensure your protection,
Even though things may have been deleted, they are STILL on the hard drive. Deleting does not remove anything from a hard drive. It can be recovered if one knows how to do it. Most cities sort trash and remove items before they go into a landfill. Who knows some idiot may have found it and decided to see if they can get information from it. Unless you have software designed to “shred” any files, (this means to overwrite them at least 5 times to scramble the file) then whatever is on the hard-rive stays.
So protect yourself before it’s too late. Change all your passwords.
Hope this answers your question
#2 by Bob T on October 12, 2009 - 12:56 pm
JESUS
Remove & destroy hard drives with personal info before giving the computer away.