Not only does storing old and unimportant documents leave your office & house with lots of clutter, these documents can be used to commit fraud through identity theft. Which is why you should destroy all unnecessary but sensitive documents regardless of their sentimental value. Below are 10 documents that you should destroy with immediate effect.

1. Unimportant Medical Documents

Those unimportant medical documents need to go as they are filled with sensitive personal information. Note that the key word here is ‘unimportant’ so don’t go shredding important medical documents that you’ll need during your next visit to the medical practitioner.

2. Bank Statements

Malicious people can use statements from financial institutions in their fraudulent dealings and can potentially drain your bank account. It is, therefore, imperative to destroy bank statements once you’ve retrieved all necessary details.

3. Insurance Documents

You should only file insurance records which you’ll need for future reference. All other insurance documents should be properly shredded.

4. Benefit Statements

Income allowance statements, family tax benefit statements, and all other benefit statements are other sensitive documents that should be disposed. These records are filled with information that can be used for fraudulent activities.

5. Filed Tax Returns

Identify thieves can also look into using your tax returns documents to obtain your personal information and so you should shred those old tax returns that are over five years old.

6. Junk Mail

Disposing your junk mail not only helps in decluttering the home, but also goes a long way in protecting you against identity theft. So, ensure to have those bills, courtesy checks, and college application documents destroyed.

7. Pay slips

If the amount on the pay stub is far from being inspiring, the first thing to come to mind is to shred it into pieces. Well, here is yet another reason for destroying that pay stub; pay stubs represent another type of sensitive document popular in identity theft.

8. Expired ID Cards

There is no document that defines you as person much like your ID card does and it is, therefore, an obvious document that could land you in trouble if used by fraudsters.

9. Boarding Passes

Gone are the days when taking a flight across Australia was an indication of status, and so there is really no need to store old airplane boarding passes. These documents which have much of your personal information are also among those that need to disappear.

10. Credit Card Statements

Bank statements are not the only documents from financial institutions that should go to the shredder. Credit card statements are also candidates of documents that should disappear through paper shredding.

Identity theft is an issue which is often not given the attention and seriousness it requires. People have found themselves on a collision course with the law after having their personal information used in the commission of fraudulent activities. Don’t be like such people; ensure all documents that can be used in identity theft are shredded by professionals from Bob Document Destruction who will leave zero traces of the original documents.