When it comes to your New York business, regardless if your company is a massive, successful corporation or a small, startup, ensuring sensitive information is protected at all times, is simply vital. A growing concern across the state of New York is identity theft, which is when someone’s private information is stolen and used for personal gains. If identity theft is not dealt with properly, your business will be left with the risk of serious consequences.Here are identity theft facts you should know about:

Millions of Victims a Year
Roughly 15 million residents in the United States fall victim to identity theft crimes each year with nearly $50 billion in financial losses. So far this year, approximately 6 million residents have dealt with identity theft related crimes.

Identity Theft is a Top Consumer Complaint
The Federal Trade Commission lists identity theft as a top compliant, just behind debt collection and ahead of imposter scams.

Medical Identity Theft is Rising
An industry that is seeing a growing increase in identity theft is the medical industry. It has been reported that more than 2 million people are victims of medical identity theft.

Every Two Seconds Identity Fraud Takes Place
According to news reports, there is a new victim of identity theft every two seconds, with data breaches being a main source.

Dumpster Diving is a Common Method of Theft
When it comes to gaining confidential information, identity thieves will dig through company trash to find intact documents and records. This is known as dumpster diving.

In order to help protect your business from identity theft, there are a few preventative measures you can take; however the most important step towards security is through having your documents and records properly destroyed with professional document shredding. Our shredding trucks are designed with industry leading shred technology, and we can destroy thousands of paper documents within the a few minutes. For information logged in computers and other electronic devices, Proshred® offers hard destruction services. In addition, be sure to use strong, complex passwords for your computer systems and install anti-spyware software.

For more information on how Proshred® can help fight identity theft for your New York business, call us at914-275-0404.

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