News: WARNING! SHRED Your Credit Card Applications!

I was in shock one morning as I was watching the news and one reporter decided to mail in 5 credit card applications. Doesn't sound too shocking until you discover that she tore up each application, much like we do to prevent others from filling it out to obtain a credit card in our name, and taped it back together before filling it out. To my horror, 3 of the 5 credit card companies sent her a credit card. One credit card company even sent the credit card to another address that she had listed, where she had never lived before. You can read a similar story at The Red Tape Chronicles, which was reported on MSNBC and at Cockeyed.com.

So what do we need to do? First off, we have to be more careful. Yes, we receive those credit card applications like nobody's business, and we maybe tear it up once, maybe twice, before throwing it in the trash. I mean, which credit company in their right mind would accept a ripped up then taped up credit card application? Apparently, some credit card companies do, and they even include the largely popular credit card companies as well. Bottomline, you aren't safe by merely tearing up your credit card applications. Your best bet is to invest in a shredder. You can buy a basic shredder for $15 from stores like Office Max, Office Depot, etc. It might be the most important $15 investment you ever made.