P-12C Paper Shredder
Did you know nearly 9 million Americans (*) have their identities stolen each year? It occurs when a thief uses your personal information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number and then goes out to commit fraud or other crimes. The scary thing is you might not know your personally identifying information has been taken until it’s to late and your credit report reflects debts you never made or undue charges show up on a credit card statement. You could even start getting harassing phone calls from debt collectors and the worst case yet—the dreadful knock from the FBI looking to arrest you for a crime you didn’t commit, but was done in your name. OUCH! I’m not trying to frighten you! I’m just looking to inform you of all the nasty scenarios which could occur from someone getting a hold of your sensitive information.
Thieves use a variety of methods to steal your information, including rummaging through trash, phishing, and possibly finding out financial information by searching through your mailbox. What are they looking for? The crooks are basically seeking anything containing your private information like government documents, medical bills, store receipts, credit card statements, and utility bills. Believe it or not, even junk mail can consist of personal material you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands.
Being a victim of identity theft can cost countless hours to reverse and hundreds of dollars to repair. In fact, some individuals victimized by identity theft may lose out on prime job opportunities, denied house or car loans, or find it hard to rent an apartment because of of negative information on their credit reports.
The best way to avoid all this is to stop it before it happens by shredding confidential paper documents after use. With tax season upon us and the threat of identity theft happening due to sensitive information not being discarded correctly, Fellowes has developed the following safety tips to help you protect your family from identity theft, both during tax season and throughout the year:
- Update personal computers with firewalls and security software, including antivirus programs.
- Contact the IRS (800-829-1040) if you do not receive W-2 forms and other sensitive information by February 15, as this may indicate that an identity thief intercepted such documents.
- Send tax returns from a locked mailbox/post office to ensure thieves cannot get to it before the postal service.
- If sending in tax forms via post mail, make sure all forms, identification documents and enclosed checks are not visible from the outside. Try wrapping everything in an extra sheet of paper to disguise its contents.
- Keep tax paperwork and other documents in a safe and accessible place, such as a fireproof box.
- After filing taxes, shred any backup documents with a Cross-Cut paper shredder, like Fellowes’ P-12C, which is essential because it shreds a single sheet of paper into hundreds of tiny particles to ensure confidential information is destroyed beyond recognition.
o The P-12C also features patented SafeSense® technology, which stops the machine immediately when hands or large pets come too close to the paper opening.
o The machine features the ability to shred CDs, DVDs, credit cards and staples.
o The P-12C offers Fellowes’ Worry Free Warranty, ensuring shredders work the first time, every time.
o Fellowes P-12C is available at Target and Target.com for $89.99.
Fellowes PS 12Cs Demo By Fellowes Inc.
Quick Glance
Model P-12C
I was more than happy to have Fellowes, through Mom Central send me a P-12C Cross-Cut Shredder, because my family has actually had our home trash rifled through by thieves looking for personal information. They made off with credit card statements, check receipts, utility bills, and a bunch of old store receipts. I know not to throw out that type of information without shredding it first, but was doing cleaning and was in a hurry so I just tossed it in the garbage intact. BIG MISTAKE! My hubby had to call the bank and they suggested for us to cancel our account and set up a new one which was a major pain in the buns. Plus, he called the credit card companies to cancel all our cards and had new ones issued.
I’ve also been careless with my online dealings and have had my Paypal account compromised. The thief was able to get my password and drained my account with $250 in iTunes charges on Valentines Day! I felt sick and frustrated! I’ve learned my lesson and try to be extremely careful with my personal information at home and online.
Fellowes P-12C Shredder
My home office was filled with a bunch of old receipts, husband’s paycheck stubs, utility bills, insurance information, medical bills, tax information, and expired credit cards ready to be placed through the Fellowes P-12C. The shredder can destroy CDs, credit cards and staples, and shred important documents into nearly 399 pieces with Cross-Cut technology making it impossible for desperate thieves to be able to paste the information back together again. It also has a large 4-gallon pull-out bin to catch the particles letting you shred more without having to dump as often.
Until this point I’ve always shied away from shredders, because I was scared of little hands accidentally getting too close and getting harmed. However, the P-12C is equipped with a patented SafeSense Technology that stops shredding when hands touch the paper opening, so it eases my fears of my son being around it.
I have to be honest, I had a blast putting the personal information through the shredder and got a satisfaction knowing I did my best to protect my families identities. Hubby got into the shredding fun too! With identity theft being one of the nation’s fastest growing crimes, I recommend everyone should have a safe shredder in their homes to help combat the possibility of having someone steal confidential information which could result in devastating consequences.
About Fellowes
Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., Fellowes, Inc. offers an impressive range of products to equip the workspace, including paper shredders, binders and laminators, desktop accessories and record storage solutions. Fellowes, Inc. owns and operates subsidiaries in Canada, United Kingdom, Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Russia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, China and Australia. The company employs more than 2,700 people throughout the world and expects global sales in excess of $700 million this year. For more information, visit www.fellowes.com.
Buy It
Fellowes P-12C has a suggested retail price of $229.98, but can be purchased at Target or Target.com for $89.99!
*Statistics quoted from the FTC.gov
“I wrote this review while participating in a Mom Central Consulting blog tour on behalf of Fellowes. I received a Fellowes paper shredder to facilitate my review.”
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AMEN! I shred EVERYTHING vital! Everything from bills (after I pay them), my retirement statements, and even credit card applications that I receive thru the mail. I’m always afraid that someone will be able to open up a credit card in my name from those * pesky * credit card apps that are sent through the postal service.
Another tip for your readers that I want to share is to contact the three credit reporting agencies, (Equifax, Experian, & TransUnion) and have a * FRAUD ALERT * placed on your account that verifies ALL MAJOR purchases made using one’s name, Social Security number, etc. This alert must be reinstated every 90 days, but it is SO worth it. Go to https://www.experian.com/ and navigate around the site until you find the area where you can sign-up for a “Fraud Alert.” And once you sign up for a “Fraud Alert” at Experian.com, Experian will then alert the other two reporting agencies to “Fraud Alert” your account with them. Convenient, yeah? Unfortunately, this fraud alert must be reinstated every 90-days, but I’d rather reinstate the fraud alert on my credit report instead of trying to repair/fix fraudulent activity on my account, you know? Trust me, this is a very good idea. I worked with a woman who had this set-up on her credit and one fine winter day (around the holidays) one of the credit reporting agencies alerted her about someone trying to purchase a vehicle using her identity. THANK GOD she had that alert on her credit, it saved her a lot of migraines and stress!
Thank you for allowing me to share and I hope I helped someone!
Hugs – Kim Buck =)
Wow! I didn’t realize that identity theft was such a large problem. I think my husband and I are going to have to rethink the way we dispose of sensitive and personal items. I must admit that several years ago I had a shredder but it was a piece of junk. Although it claimed that it could even shred credit cards, it could hardly do justice on a few pieces of paper. It sounds like technology has come a long was and I’m very impressed by this shredder. From your review it sounded like the shredder did a great job with your old credit cards and you indicated that it is able to do more, like shredding DVDs and papers with staplers in them. Did you actually try these?
This is some good advice. Some friends of mine just found $3,000 of charges to their debit card. They were out of town at a funeral and then to have that happen on top was awful. I know that shredding documents in good but I have to admit that I don’t have one. I really like that it actually will shred old cards.
Useful tips on security from both you and Kim. Thanks to both of you.
Identity theft is such a huge problem these days. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the people who don’t have a conscience and do these things. I think you offer a lot of good advice to protect ourselves!
This is good, timely information. My friend just had her identity stolen, and it had to have happened at her office. I told her to buy a shredder!
We do not own a shredder and have been wanting to purchase one that is safe…thanks for the great review.
I will be checking this one out!
Great Review! A shredder is a must in our home!! We shred everything…basically anything with our information on it. I’ve heard good things about this brand.
Shredding is so important. I love the safety features on this shredder.
What an awesome shredder! I usually rip my paper into little pieces but that shredder is so much better!
Shredders are a must! I shred everything that has anything to do with a bank/credit card application.
We have a shredder but it is not a “crosscut” one and my husband has said we are going to replace it with the crosscut because it is better so you are right on with your review and it is well worth it to go with q good shredder and not just a cheaper one.
Wow! Then I really need a shredder! usually I just cut the papers into little pieces
I shred everything too 🙂 I was lucky to pick up a great cross-cut shredder a few years ago on sale with a coupon and a gift card 🙂
Great review, thanks for sharing!! 🙂
This sounds like a great shredder. I wish I would have known about this one sooner. I just got a new shredder last month. I got a First Alert Shredder and it is doing a good job.
Love to get this shredder, we shred all our important info, and if you think nothing like that would happen to me…. think again! We had our box of checks sent to our PO Box and we put them up, Went to bank to draw out money for our anniversary dinner and it was empty. So then we were too sick to eat. Was on a Sat so had to wait till monday. When we got home we went back and checked our new box of checks an sure enough, in the pack next to the last there were checks taken off the top. We never found out who did it, there was an ongoing investigation going on searching for theves. We yes there were and they have our money. And guess what, we never got all our money back, they even cleared out our overdraft protection. So now we are without money and can’t get anything back for a week. After all said and done, we got back most of our money, but so much confusion that we never got it all. I was so furious at the bank that we changed to another, so if you think you are not going to have any type of identity theft do stop checking in the place you don’t think of checking, we shred everything now. I just got a coke rewards certificate in the mail and it was torn open and taped back, mailed to us with no certificate. It can happen to everything also.
ncjeepster@aol.com
I’ve been a victim of identity theft! Not fun at all. I shred everything with any personal info, and check my statements carefully
I shred everything. I’ve already had credit card fraud in the past and it isn’t fun! This a great device to help prevent identity theft!
Thanks for the great review!
this shredder seems like it would really help me..i hate throwing away papers with information on it..never know who could get ahold of the info!