logo

How To Destroy Credit Cards

by Violet WillettAugust 29, 2024
How To Destroy Credit Cards

It is very important to destroy the credit card carefully because someone can steal the information if not properly disposed of. Here is how to destroy the credit card carefully.

Properly Cut Up Your Credit Cards

Scissors are an underrated way to destroy your credit card. Blogger Jim Wang has been using them for years and has developed a system for cutting cards that involves slicing every set of four numbers into six pieces, making sure you also cut through your signature on the back as well as where it says "Credit Card."

Shredding Your Cards And Documents

You can also use a shredder with specially designed blades that cut through credit cards for added protection. These are typical twice the price of an ordinary one but less than $100 and well worth it to keep your information safe from prying eyes!

Ensure To Destroy Magnetic Chips And Stripes.

Wang advises that people take an extra step to deactivate the card and, if present, its RFID chip. To easily scramble the data from the magnetic stripe behind your card, you can run a very strong magnet along the stripe. Also, to avoid potential hacking, try using scissors to cut out chips for easier disposal.

Trash Tip: Bag The Pieces Separately

One of the smart ways to protect yourself from being a victim is to prevent curbside identity theft by depositing your pieces of destroyed credit cards in different trashcans around your house. Suppose half of the card goes out with kitchen waste and the half with trash from the house. In that case, any thief will be left piecing together only parts they find lying around without enough information that could jeopardize all their efforts!

The Recycling Myth: It's Not Safer Than Trash

It's not just a myth: recycling bins are not safer than trash cans for credit cards, statements, and other sensitive documents. In fact, they can be more dangerous because of how easy it is to take items off the conveyor belt at a recycling center! Even without stealing anything specific from your home or business on purpose--though wouldn't you know there have been some cases where this has happened?-a crook would still likely find what he was looking for in either type bin if only through sheer luck as employees manually pick through materials one load at a time before tossing recyclables onto another truck bound directly away from these facilities.

We hope this article was helpful for you. If you want to read more such articles, visit Any Credit

Dive even deeper, explore more of our Blog
logo
Here at AnyCredit, we aim to make the most complex financial issues and topics easy to understand. In our articles, we will be making analysis, smart finance judgments, and honest conversations to help you make sense of your financial capacities and options.
Copyright © 2024 AnyCredit. All Rights Reserved.