A video now going viral around the country involves a Goodwill store which is inadvertently selling the personal tax records of a number of families who put donations in the Goodwill bins.
In this blog we usually concentrate on HOAs and the out-of-control tort industry. But as you watch this investigative report you’ve got to believe your personal information can be leaked when HOA boards or their attorneys dump their trash and files.
Anyway, watch this and suppress your urge to ‘freak out’.
(click here for WTHR-TV news story)
When life ends for a family member many people hire companies to sell the contents of the home/condo/townhouse before selling the property. Often times after taking the jewelry and other items they wish to keep, they leave file cabinets and boxes full of personal documents. Those files contain information for the now-deceased AND personal information of their children so without knowing it a living person will have their social security number, birth date and more being donated to a charity at the end of the sale.
It’s a good idea to mark your boxes with tax records and personal files: SHRED ONLY! AVOID IDENTITY THEFT! People working the sale will know they contain sensitive information. It will remind you when you’re moving or cleaning to never throw the contents in the trash or recyling bin.