Last night, just before midnight, An SUV slowed and stopped in front of my house and stole my trash bin. There were two out at the street. One was newer and contained mainly cardboard. They took the older one with the bulk of the household trash. Camera too blurry to offer much detail. Am I being targeted for ID theft ?
IMO, yes. I shred everything, even the envelopes. Especially gun related stuff such as mail from NRA, TSRA, JPFO, CCRKBA, GOA. And political mail, CC solicitations. Sometimes I put out the trash just before the truck arrives. Be safe.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
Posts: 6035 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: September 14, 2003
Originally posted by oldbill123: Am I being targeted for ID theft ?
Possibly. Do you shred all paperwork, including junk mail containing personal information--even only your name and address, with a good cross-cut shredder?
Not that that will necessarily stop i.d. thieves anymore. There is now software that allows one to place all the shredded bits on a flatbed scanner, in any old order, as long as they're face-down, and the program will re-assemble them.
And the verkakte bubble envelopes are a PITA. You can't feed them through a cross-cut shredder because they'll gum up the works. (Ask me how I know.) So you have to painstakingly hand-shred them with a scissors
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
It's possible you're being targeted, but is there a reason for them to target you?
It's also possible that someone just wanted an extra trash can, and yours just happened to be handy.
"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people." "Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy." "I did," said Ford, "it is." "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?" "It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want." "You mean they actually vote for the lizards." "Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course." "But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?" "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."
Posts: 3608 | Location: Two blocks from the Center of the Universe | Registered: December 30, 2004
If we want to go through your trash, we usually don't take the can. If your's is bagged in the can, we will grab a bag from the next street over and swap it. if it's not bagged, we'll voluntold someone with a pickup, drive up, dump the can into the bed and refill your's and take off. lol That was the old days, now with cameras, we'll just come and take your trash.
Who knows the reason. People are strange and have lots of motives for things they do. Get a better camera so you can get a clear picture if it happens again. I can think of other more pleasant ways to accomplish identity theft.
Posts: 17697 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015
Simple question - how much do your trashcans cost?
For example, in San Diego, they cost something like $150. Oh and if the trash collector breaks your cans and subsequently flag the can as defective, you're still on the hook to pay for the replacement(s).
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers
The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...
Posts: 14256 | Location: It was Lat: 33.xxxx Lon: 44.xxxx now it's CA :( | Registered: March 22, 2008
I have lived here over 25 years. They took the oldest can which had already been run over once. The cans are 70 dollars. Most everything is shredded and burned. Not the envelopes though. I did donate to Trump so I may be targeted. Wife signed up for Dana so that could be it. Can is 150 feet away from camera. I downgraded the HPS 70 watt light in the front to a 28 watt LED to save energy. Not sure how much I want to invest on Adding a streetlight at the end of the drive and a camera. Can't imagine the perps would be punished as we don't even punish violent criminals anymore. If they had just taken the trash out, I would not have noticed anything I don't shred junk mail.
As both a cop and a PI, I took a lot of trash. I should have laterally transferred to Waste Management. And it wasnt enough to grab one weeks worth of trash, a months worth gives the best info.
End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
Posts: 16553 | Location: Marquette MI | Registered: July 08, 2014
We make a point to remove all identifying informaton before anything goes in the trash, shred it, burn it, and stir the ashes. Material that might identify firearms in the house (ammunition or magazine packaging, etc) is destroyed, as is anything that might give an indication of purchase trends, number of people, or other demographics.
We taught the kids to do it, and practice it religiously.
I can see I need to up my game. Growing up, food trash was bagged and taken out every night. Everything else was burned. We didn't have soda, so cans were limited
About 8 months ago ours had to be replaced due to a wheel that would not stay on the axel and a large crack/split down one side due to mechanical lift arm for dumping into the truck. When replacement arrived a serial number inbeded into the can was recorded onto a spread sheet for proof where it belonged. Then I spray painted (White) 3" inch tall house address numbers on all 4 sides and top lid of the can. Guess only a lock will slow a honest person down. If the want it they will take it even if locked down. ........................ drill sgt.
Posts: 2154 | Location: denham springs , la | Registered: October 19, 2019
