How Is Shredding Different From Recycling?

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Many people don’t know the difference between shredding vs recycling. Some, think that it is all the same but it’s not! There are a lot of key differences between the two you should know about and it could end up saving you time, money and the possibility of being a victim of Identity theft.

So what is shredding vs recycling?

When shredding, only paper is being shredded and then taken to a processing facility to be recycled. This is the difference with shredding vs recycling!

How many people are effected by identity theft?

According to Experian, in 2018 there was a total of 1,579 data breaches exposing nearly 179 million records! The most common is credit card fraud, with government documents and/or benefits fraud being the least.

It’s no secret that most fraud happens online or over the telephone but there are few cases that happen due to the improper destruction of certain documents.

Why shredding is NOT the same as recycling!

Paper that is sent to shredding are things that are confidential. These are things such as forms with social security numbers, tax ID numbers, credit card information, etc. Those are items that would need to be shredded.

Recycling paper is not the same as shredding paper. Paper that is sent to recycling is not confidential. These are things like magazines, newspapers, extra copies of non confidential documents you no longer need, etc.

Based on the chart below, how many of these do you think could be prevented if items such as bank account statements, credit card statements or even old tax filings would’ve been shredded instead of thrown away or recycled?

How does Access Records Management Work?

Access Records Management has shredding services for the public and for businesses. For the public, we offer drop off shredding. You can come to us and drop off your items you want shred. We will put it in a bin and lock it in front of you until it is ready for shredding!

For businesses we offer pick up shredding. We will supply the bin and drop it off at your business. You can either have an ongoing pickup or we can do a one time pickup. We would then take your bin and/or boxes back to our facility for shredding.

We will also provide a certificate of destruction so you won’t have to worry about your secure documents in the wrong hands!

If this sounds like something your company may need and you want to avoid fraud at all cost, give us a call! We’ll be happy to help you with your shredding needs or you can check out our recycling company Business Recycling Solutions, if you’re more interested in recycling!

IRS Scam Calls, Here Again!

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April is right around the corner and so are the IRS scam calls! Have you started receiving them yet? If you didn’t know already, it’s usually not the actual IRS!

How can you spot the IRS scam calls lie?

Typically the calls are automated but there have been live people who call as well saying something along the lines of,

“this is to inform you that the IRS is filing lawsuit against you.  For more information on this case file please call our department number at xxx-xxx-xxxx.  Thank you.”

Scammers main goals are to scare you! You don’t really owe money, the IRS is not filing a law suit against you and you do NOT need to pay over the phone or send money in the mail!

6 Things the Real IRS Would NEVER Do!

According to the IRS there are a few things to take note of to determine if it is and IRS scam call or not.

  1. The IRS would NEVER call to demand payment immediately over the phone.
  2. They would NEVER call about taxes owed without mailing you a bill first.
  3. They wouldn’t demand tax payment without giving you a chance to appeal the amount.
  4. The IRS would NEVER ask for debit or credit card payment over the phone!
  5. The IRS would also NEVER threaten to call the police or other law enforcement for nonpayment.

What do you do if you get a scam call?

  • You can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine if you actually owe money! If you can’t tell whether or not the call is fake, you can call the IRS and figure out if you actually owe anything.
  • You can also report the scam callers to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of your report.
  • If you’re getting emails about taxes and suspect it’s a scam, forward the email to phishing@irs.gov. Then delete it. DO NOT OPEN IT.

5 Reasons to Love Professional Shred Services

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We want to share the love this Valentine’s Day and tell you five reasons you’ll love professional shred services!

1. Professional shred services can save you a lot of time so you can focus on things you love!

No one loves to sit in an uncomfortable chair shredding five papers at a time! Not only is this time consuming, it’s boring. When you have documents professionally shredded, the only thing you’ll need to do is lift your finger to point out where the documents you want shredded are!

2. The more, the better.

If you have a personal shredder at home, you’re probably keeping up with the documents you need shredded at least once a month right? If not, it makes it harder to shred a bulk amount of documents.

With professional shred services, we can take as much or as little shred you want! Whether you have 1-100 boxes needing shred, we can handle it.

3. Better security and your customers will love you for it!

How many times have we seen on the news that a company had a breech in security? How many times have we heard of identity theft in certain companies?

When you have professional shred services, the liability transfers from you to us! You and your customers will be able to breathe knowing that their information is safe and in the hands of a professional.

You can also research how small certain companies shred their paper. The smaller, the more secure.

4. It’s more sustainable, so your eco-friendly customers will be pleased!

If you didn’t know, all professional shred companies recycle their paper after it’s been shredded!

Usually if you shred at home, you’re throwing the shred away afterwards. When you shred professionally, all of the shred is recycled after, making it more eco-friendly!

5. One less thing on your to-do list.

This can make it easier on you to have a productive day or maybe even your employees!

Instead of paying employees to shred documents for hours, you can pay them to do other productive work during those hours and have a shred company pick up those documents.

Access Records Management takes pride in making sure your documents are secure! Click here to see how our document destruction service works or call 816-331-7200 for more information!