Two-thirds of employed U.S. adults now shred credit card offers and convenience checks before putting them in the trash, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of Office Depot.
Forty-nine percent said they shred confidential employee information before discarding, and 37% make a point of bringing mail directly to the post office for pick up instead of leaving it unattended in their mailboxes.
The nationwide survey of 1,962 employed U.S. men and women also found that 25% said they don’t sign the back of their credit card so that vendors will be forced to check for ID. Twenty three percent noted that they frequently check their credit report.
Online security was also a concern of respondent: 63% have firewall software and 27% change their passwords frequently. However, only 13% said they never give out their credit card information online.
When respondents were asked which items, out of a list of nine, they would put through a shredder if they could, the top five responses were junk mail (cited by 68%); bills (67%); their credit report (27%); their driver’s license photo (17%); and photos of their ex (14%).
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