Prevent Fraud by Shredding Important Documents

Fraud, a criminal act that includes the use of deception for personal gain, has become even more prevalent in the internet era, thanks to the proliferation of digital data.  This is why so many North Dakota and South Dakota companies have turned to measures like robust firewalls, anti-virus programs, password protection, encryption, VPNs, and more to ensure that data stored virtually remains secure.

Unfortunately, your focus on electronic data may lead to neglect where hard copies are concerned, and this could mean that documents containing confidential data are more susceptible to theft, along with the threat of fraud.  Why should you be worried about this and what can you do to prevent fraud?  Here’s what you need to know to keep data secure in any format.

Forms of Fraud

Companies work very hard to protect sensitive consumer data, in order to avoid one of the most prominent forms of fraud: identity theft.  However, this isn’t the only way stolen data could result in fraudulent activities.  Stolen financial data could lead to fraudulent charges against business accounts, or be used to disseminate partial information or misinformation that affects company stock, just for example.

If business planning documents or projections are compromised, they could be used to disrupt everything from partnerships and investments, to new product launches, to public perceptions of your brand.  The point is, you have to carefully control all company data, not just sensitive consumer or employee data, or financial or medical information that is protected by laws and industry regulations.

On-Site Shredding While You Watch

How can you ensure that your data is secure and prevent fraud?  In addition to digital protections, you need to make sure any data on hard copy is secured.  A great way to start is with a clean desk policy that requires hard copies to be cleared off employee desks and locked up at the end of each workday.  As a bonus, this reduces clutter and helps to create a welcoming and productive work environment.

Next, you need to adopt a shred all policy that requires every document (not just those that may contain sensitive data) to be shredded.  This is best accomplished by partnering with a mobile shredding service that comes to your location on a regularly scheduled basis to shred documents on-site, as you watch for confirmation.  With industrial shredding equipment, professionals will destroy hard copies and even hard drives, providing you with a Certificate of Destruction for your records.

End-to-End Security Measures

When you partner with a document shredding service, you’ll get a lot more than document destruction – you’ll also enjoy security every step of the way.  This starts with locking bins for in-office use, so documents that go in can’t be snatched up by unscrupulous employees and used for the purposes of fraud.  Once these bins have been collected and the contents shredded, paper remains will be transported to a secure facility for recycling, minimizing the threat of theft at every stage.

If your North Dakota or South Dakota business wants to prevent fraud, contact SEAM today at 605-274-7326 (SEAM) or online to learn about our professional paper shredding services and request a quote.