Don't throw confidential documents out a window

Posted by Caitlin on November 9th, 2009

New Yorkers were very excited about the Yankee's World Series win last week. So excited, in fact, that when they couldn't find any confetti during the victory parade on Friday, they began tossing miscellaneous paperwork out the window. That miscellaneous paperwork included a wealth of confidential information.

Pay stubs, balance sheets, and client account information were all dumped into the street. The client account information came from the window of Liberty Street financial firm A.L. Sarroff, and included Social Security numbers.

Documents containing sensitive personal information or confidential company data should be shredded before they are disgarded. Conscientious handling of your own personal information is one way to avoid identity theft. But since you never know when an overenthusiastic Yankees fan might fling your Social Security number out of an office window, consider investing in an identity theft protection service.