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By Emily

March 29th, 2013

*I have partnered with Fellowes, who partnered with the ITRC to bring you this post.

According to the ITRC, there has been a dramatic increase in IRS related identity theft during tax season in the past few years. The ITRC received 77% more cases in 2012 than in 2010, and during those three years, the highest levels of identity theft that occurred were during tax season – February and March.

As soon as this information was shared with me, I thought that it seemed logical. If someone were out to steal identities, it’s likely that they would recognize that this time of year is easier to get your hands on a lot of personal information at once, as we gather all of our important documents together so that we can do our taxes.

Of course, some people gather their papers and deliver them to a tax preparer, so if they misplace papers in betwen locations this puts them at risk. Yet, more and more people are turning to filing at home from their computers, and they are still at risk if they throw out papers with important information without shredding the papers. Someone could steal their trash from their home, their driveway, the garbage truck or at the landfill.

  • One way to lower your risk of identity theft is to make sure to install a firewall on your computer. Be sure to make your passwords secure by using letters, numbers and symbols whenever possible.
  • If you use at home tax preparation software, select careful to make sure you are using one that is secure.
  • File early in the tax season if possible.
  • If you are going to mail in your tax returns, do so directly from the post office instead of from your home mailbox. This avoids the possibility of someone stealing directly from your mailbox.
  • Do not send sensitive documents or information over unprotected email.
  • If you file your taxes online, don’t do so from a public, unprotected wifi system. Unsure if you’re at a secure site? Secure sites will begin with https:// instead of http://
  • Throughout the year, store sensitive tax season documents in a cabinet that is locked and fireproof.
  • Once you’re finished with tax documents, shred them using a cross-cut shredder.

fellowes63cb

Looking to buy a shredder? Consider the Fellowes 63Cb. I recently got this shredder so I haven’t had long to test it out as I wanted to get the word out to you guys before you file your taxes. A bit of information about the Fellowes 63Cb shredder:

  • It’s designed with Jam Block Technology to avoid blockages before they start.
  • SafeSense Technology – automatically quits shredding when hands touch the paper opening area.
  • Energy Saving System – Always maximizes shredder energy savings – both in and out of use.
  • Heavy duty cross-cut blades – destroy a single piece of paper into 302 pieces, making them virtually impossible to piece back together.

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The pieces left from the Fellowes 63Cb. Could you piece that paper back together? I couldn’t!

The shredder isn’t just for paper – it can also shred small paper clips, credit cards, and staples. It can handle shredding up to 10 pieces of paper at once. It can continually shred for up to 8 minutes straight. After that, it will need a 20 minute cool down period until it can shred for 8 continuous minutes again. The front of the device has a overheat indicator that will let you know when the device is overheated, and the device won’t operate until it has cooled down. There are also notifications on the front of the device to let you know if the tray is open, if paper needs to be removed (it has a reverse button to assist you in removing paper) and a SafeSense indicator that will come on if hands are too close to the paper entry.

fellowes63cb

I have only shredded a few items but I have been impressed with the 63Cb so far. I hadn’t owned a shredder before, but I expected the device to be louder than it is. I waited until everyone in the house was awake because I thought it might be loud enough to wake up someone even in another room or something, but I didn’t need to do that, as it wasn’t that loud. I can’t say that it’s quiet, but I can’t see it waking up someone in another room. It’s about a foot and a half high, so you’ll want to make a plan for a place to put it. For me, I found that it fit really well under my computer desk where I wasn’t really using the space anyway. It’s short enough that I can still have room to feed a regular sized piece of paper into the top of the device, but it’s out of the way when not in use.The Fellowes 63CB has a suggested retail price of $149.99 and is available at Amazon.com, Officedepot.com, and Officemax.com.

How will you (or did you) keep yourself protected this tax season? 

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