THE COPIER STOLE MY IDENTITY!

Have you ever walked up to a photo copier, placed documents with sensitive info on them, closed the lid, and pressed the big green button? You know the documents, the ones you're determined not to leave on the glass when you're finished...you KNOW that if someone had that information, you risk identity theft - or potentially face embarrassment or other consequences if that information became public. You're careful to check the paper tray twice; making sure you didn't accidentally make duplicate copies - and if you do, you shred them right away. And, just to make absolutely sure, you hit the "clear" button a few times for good measure. NOBODY is going to get your private information! No one will ever know what you just copied! You know better than to let that happen...right?

But, did you ask if the copier has a hard drive installed on it first? If so, did you ask what precautions are taken to ensure your private information does not fall into someone else's hands? For a sobering look at just how easy it would be for your information to fall into the wrong hands, take a look at this CBS News story, and this New York Times story. You'll be glad you did.

Pre-Paid Legal works to continually highlight identity theft and legal related stories that impact our lives every day. We make them available via our corporate media room. You can find our story highlighting the above issues here. Pre-Paid Legal's signature products, including the Life Events Legal Plan and Identity Theft Shield, serve more than 1.5 million families in North America.