Updated November 2026 · Southern New Hampshire
Why shred personal documents: five frauds, five papers
Five real kinds of identity theft from the FTC’s own report counts, and the exact piece of paper in your house that feeds each one. You also get a short list of what to keep, what to shred and what it costs to get rid of it properly.
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Quick answer
You shred personal documents because each one carries the details a specific fraud needs: card statements and preapproved offers feed credit card fraud, checks and bank statements feed bank account fraud, W-2s and tax returns feed tax fraud, pay stubs and loan papers feed loan fraud, and Explanation of Benefits forms feed medical identity theft. The FTC logged about 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, with credit card fraud on top at 449,032. New Hampshire Document Shredding destroys household paper at 99 cents a pound at its Tewksbury drop-off, plus $34.90 per job, as part of our residential shredding service.
Why shred personal documents: what the FTC numbers show
Every year the Federal Trade Commission publishes its Consumer Sentinel Data Book, a count of the fraud and identity theft reports people file. The 2024 edition, released in March 2025, is the most recent full book with state tables. It is the best public record of which kinds of identity theft actually hit American households. The problem is not shrinking: in a June 2026 release, the FTC said people reported losing about $16 billion to fraud in 2025, the highest total on record.
One honest caveat before the numbers. The FTC counts reports by type of fraud, not by how the thief got the information. Nobody can tell you what share started with a bank statement pulled from a recycling bin. What the data does show is which accounts get opened or drained in people’s names, and each of those needs a specific set of details that sits on paper in most homes.
New Hampshire sits 35th of the 50 states, with 150 identity theft reports per 100,000 people. That is lower than Massachusetts next door, which ranks 6th. Lower is not the same as safe. The FTC’s New Hampshire page shows the same top types as the nation: credit card fraud in 38 percent of reports, bank account fraud in 18 percent, loan or lease fraud in 13 percent and phone or utility fraud in 10 percent.
Those percentages map almost one to one onto the papers in a household filing cabinet. The five sections below take each fraud type, name the document that feeds it and tell you what to do with that document. Our post on identity theft from trash covers how paper actually leaves a house and ends up in the wrong hands.
Reason 1: credit card fraud starts with statements and preapproved offers
Credit card fraud is the single biggest identity theft type in the FTC data, with 449,032 reports in 2024. The striking part is the split. About 406,110 of those reports involved new accounts opened in someone’s name, against 52,428 involving an existing card. Most card fraud is not someone using your card. It is someone getting a new one as you.
To open a card in your name, a thief needs your name, address, date of birth and usually your Social Security number. Two kinds of paper help. A monthly statement shows your full name, billing address, account number and spending pattern. A prescreened credit offer shows that a lender already considers you approved, along with your address.
The fix is boring and it works. Shred card statements once you have checked them against your receipts, and shred every preapproved offer unopened if you like. You can also cut the flow at the source. The FTC explains that you can opt out of prescreened offers for five years at optoutprescreen.com or by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT, or opt out permanently by mailing back a signed form.
Do not throw a statement in curbside recycling just because the account is closed. The paper still shows your name, address and the pattern of where you shop, which is enough to make a phishing call sound convincing. Our list of which junk mail to shred sorts the safe envelopes from the risky ones.
Reason 2: bank account fraud runs on checks and statements
Bank account fraud showed up in 114,608 FTC reports in 2024 and in 18 percent of New Hampshire identity theft reports. The national subtypes tell you where the risk sits. New accounts opened in someone’s name led with 62,982 reports. Debit card, electronic transfer and ACH fraud followed with 42,041, and misuse of an existing account came to 17,645.
Electronic transfers matter here because of what a paper check carries. The bottom line of every check you write shows your bank’s routing number and your account number. A voided check, an old checkbook from a closed account or a deposit slip carries the same pair. Those two numbers are what an ACH debit uses.
Statements add the rest of the picture: your full name, address, balance and regular payees. A thief who knows your bank and your usual bills can impersonate the bank on the phone with real details.
Shred
Voided checks, unused checks from closed accounts, deposit slips, ATM receipts, old bank and brokerage statements once the tax year they support is closed, and loan payoff letters.
Keep
Statements that support a tax return still open to IRS review, records showing the cost of investments you still own, and anything tied to an ongoing dispute with a bank.
Switch
Turn on paperless statements for accounts you check online. Less paper in the mailbox means less paper to shred later, and nothing sits in the box at the end of the driveway.
How long to hold statements depends on what they back up. Our guide on whether to shred old bank statements works through the timing account by account.
Reason 3: tax and employment fraud feed on W-2s and old returns
The FTC logged 87,470 employment or tax-related identity theft reports in 2024. Within that group, tax fraud accounted for 54,725 reports and employment or wage-related fraud for 37,556. Employment fraud is when someone works under your Social Security number. Tax fraud is when someone files a return in your name to collect a refund.
Both need the same thing: your Social Security number, ideally with your employer and income to make a fake return look real. That is exactly what a W-2, a 1099 or a copy of last year’s return contains. Tax season puts more of these forms in more places than any other time of year: on the kitchen table, in a preparer’s folder, in the car on the way to a drop-off.
Two habits close most of the gap. First, keep tax papers for as long as the IRS says and then shred them as a batch, not one envelope at a time. Second, get an IRS Identity Protection PIN. The IRS describes it as a six-digit number that stops anyone else from filing a return with your Social Security number, valid for one calendar year, and the fastest way to get one is through your IRS online account.
Our tax records retention guide lists the IRS periods line by line, so you know which years are safe to clear out.
Reason 4: loan and lease fraud uses pay stubs and old applications
Loan or lease fraud was the third largest identity theft type in the 2024 data, with 176,400 reports. Business and personal loans led at 95,689 reports, auto loans and leases followed at 60,188, and apartment or house rentals came to 17,790. In New Hampshire, loan or lease fraud appeared in 13 percent of identity theft reports.
A lender or landlord wants proof that the applicant is real and has income. The documents that prove it are the ones people tend to keep in a drawer for years: pay stubs, old loan applications, car lease paperwork, rental applications and copies of a driver’s license. Each one pairs a name with a Social Security number, an employer, a salary or an address history.
| Document | What it shows | When to shred |
|---|---|---|
| Pay stubs | Name, employer, pay, often part of your SSN | After you match them to your W-2 for the year |
| Old loan or lease applications | SSN, date of birth, income, past addresses | Once the loan is paid off and you have the payoff letter |
| Rental applications and leases | SSN, employer, references, bank details | After the lease ends and the deposit is settled |
| Copies of your license or passport | Photo, ID number, date of birth, address | As soon as the copy has served its purpose |
| Credit reports you printed | Every account, balance and address on file | Right after you review them |
Landlords, car dealers and lenders who collect this paper have their own legal duty to destroy it properly under the FTC Disposal Rule. Our post on the FACTA disposal rule explains what that means for a New Hampshire business.
Reason 5: medical identity theft hides in Explanation of Benefits forms
The FTC counted 10,116 medical services identity theft reports in 2024, filed under its “other identity theft” group. The number is smaller than card fraud, but the damage is harder to undo. The FTC describes medical identity theft as someone using your personal information, such as your health insurance or Medicare number, to get care, prescriptions or insurance payouts in your name.
The paper that feeds it is the Explanation of Benefits, or EOB, that your insurer mails after each visit. The FTC notes an EOB lists the provider, the date, the services and the cost. Add the member number on your insurance card and a thief has what a fake claim needs. The FTC also names an EOB for care you never received as one of the first warning signs.
The FTC’s own advice is direct: when you get rid of medical and insurance records, shred them before you throw them away. For pill bottles and other items that are hard to shred, it suggests covering the personal details with a marker.
- Read every EOB when it arrives and check it against your actual visits.
- Keep EOBs you need for a dispute, a flexible spending claim or a tax deduction.
- Shred the rest in a batch with your other household paper.
- Switch to online EOBs if your insurer offers them.
Our post on how long to keep EOBs and medical bills has the timing for families and caregivers.
The document behind each fraud, on one page
Here is the whole map in one view. Print it and tape it inside the cabinet where you keep the shred box. When you are unsure about a sheet of paper, find its row.
A few papers do not fit one row because they feed several. A Social Security card, a birth certificate or a passport should be kept, not shredded, and stored somewhere locked. Phone and utility bills belong to a sixth FTC category with 82,626 reports in 2024, mostly new mobile accounts and new utility accounts. They prove an address, which is why they show up in loan and account applications.
Priorities differ by household. Our ranked list of which documents to shred first puts them in order of risk.
Shred what you no longer need, keep what you do
Shredding too early can hurt you as much as never shredding. If the IRS questions a return, the bank statement that proves a deduction is your evidence. The rule is to hold each paper for its full period, then destroy it on a schedule.
For tax records, the IRS page “How long should I keep records” sets the periods. Keep records 3 years in most cases. Keep them 6 years if you left out income that should have been reported and it was more than 25 percent of the gross income on the return. Keep them 7 years if you claimed a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction. Employment tax records are kept at least 4 years. Property records stay until the period runs out for the year you sell the property.
- Pick one day a yearMany New Hampshire households use the week after they file taxes in April. The new year’s papers are fresh, and you know exactly which old years are now safe.
- Pull the expired yearsTake out the tax year that just passed the 3-year mark, plus statements, pay stubs and EOBs that supported it.
- Keep the permanent pileDeeds, wills, birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards, and records for property you still own stay put.
- Box it as isYou do not need to pull staples, paper clips, binder clips, rubber bands or file folders. Remove three-ring binder hardware and hanging-folder frames.
- Shred in one tripOne drop-off a year keeps the per-job fee to a single $34.90 and gets you one Certificate of Destruction.
The IRS also notes that insurers and creditors may want records kept longer than the IRS does. If a paper ties to an open claim, an estate or a dispute, set it aside until that closes. Our document retention guide covers the business side of the same question.
Why shred personal documents with a service instead of the recycling bin
Curbside recycling is the right place for newspapers and cereal boxes. It is the wrong place for anything with an account number, because the paper sits in an open bin, then a truck, then a sorting floor before it is pulped. Tearing a statement in half does not change much. A home shredder works for the daily trickle of mail, but a 30-pound banker’s box of old files will take an afternoon and probably the shredder’s motor.
That is where a paid service makes sense. At our office in Tewksbury, about 15 minutes south of the Salem and Pelham line, you hand the boxes over at the counter, staff help you unload, and the paper is cross-cut shredded the same business day. All of the shredded paper is recycled.
| Household boxes | Drop-off in Tewksbury | Zone 1 pickup | Zone 2 pickup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 banker’s box (about 30 lb) | $64.60 | $194.55 | $224.55 |
| 5 boxes (about 150 lb) | $183.40 | $313.35 | $343.35 |
| 10 boxes ($20 each) | $234.90 | $364.85 | $394.85 |
| 20 boxes ($20 each) | $434.90 | $564.85 | $594.85 |
Every total includes $34.90 in per-job fees: a $14.95 HIPAA filing fee for the Certificate of Destruction paperwork and a $19.95 environmental fee for recycling the shred. Under 10 boxes is priced at 99 cents a pound. Zone 1 covers border towns such as Salem, Pelham, Windham and Plaistow, Zone 2 covers greater Nashua and Manchester, and the Seacoast and points north are Zone 3 at $199.95. The zone is confirmed when you book.
Home shredder
Fine for a few envelopes a week. Slow and hard on the motor for a cabinet clean-out.
Community shred day
Free when your town, bank or credit union runs one. Long lines and a box limit. See our shred events page.
Drop-off
Any weekday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., no appointment. Our drop-off shredding page has parking and directions.
Pickup
By appointment, priced by zone. Best for ten boxes or more. Read about off-site shredding.
Our honest take: for one to five boxes, drive them down. For an attic full of a parent’s papers, book the pickup and save your back. The full price list is on our shredding rates page.
If you think your information is already out there
Shredding protects what is still in your house. It does nothing for a statement that already went out with the recycling. If you see warning signs, act on them the same day.
The FTC lists the signs plainly: charges for things you did not buy, withdrawals you did not make, accounts in your name you do not recognize, and a bill that suddenly stops arriving, which can mean someone changed your billing address. Report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov, where the FTC builds a personal recovery plan.
Then close the paper gap so it does not happen twice. Our step-by-step post on what to do after identity theft covers credit freezes, police reports and the New Hampshire side of the process.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main reasons to shred personal documents?
Each document carries details a specific fraud needs. Card statements and preapproved offers feed credit card fraud, checks and statements feed bank fraud, W-2s and returns feed tax fraud, pay stubs and loan papers feed loan fraud, and EOBs feed medical identity theft. The FTC logged about 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, and credit card fraud led with 449,032.
How common is identity theft in New Hampshire?
The FTC’s 2024 Data Book counts 2,079 identity theft reports from New Hampshire, or 150 per 100,000 people, which ranks the state 35th. Credit card fraud appeared in 38 percent of those reports, bank account fraud in 18 percent and loan or lease fraud in 13 percent. New Hampshire consumers also reported $34.6 million in fraud losses that year.
Does the FTC say identity theft comes from trash?
No. The FTC counts reports by type of fraud, not by how the thief got the details, so no official number says how much starts with paper. The FTC does tell consumers to shred documents with personal or financial information before throwing them away, and to shred medical and insurance records. Shredding removes one easy source of the details these frauds need.
Which documents should I never shred?
Keep originals of birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards, passports, deeds, wills, car titles and records for property you still own. Keep tax records for the period the IRS sets, which is generally 3 years and longer in some cases. Store these in a locked place. Shred copies once they have served their purpose, not the originals.
Is a home shredder good enough for personal documents?
For a few envelopes a week, a cross-cut home shredder is fine. For a clean-out of several years of statements and tax files, it is slow and wears out fast. A banker’s box of paper weighs about 30 pounds. At our Tewksbury drop-off that box costs $64.60 including the $34.90 per-job fees, and it is shredded the same business day.
Do I need to remove staples and folders before shredding?
No. You do not need to remove staples, paper clips, binder clips, rubber bands or file folders. Do remove three-ring binder hardware, hanging-folder frames and anything that is not paper. Put old phones, USB sticks or hard drives in a separate bag, since media is physically destroyed and quoted per item. Then tape the boxes shut and bring them in.
Can I stop preapproved credit offers from arriving?
Yes. The FTC explains that you can opt out of prescreened credit and insurance offers for five years at optoutprescreen.com or by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. To opt out permanently, you start the same way and then sign and mail back the Permanent Opt-Out Election form. It may take several weeks for the offers to stop.
Do you have a drop-off location in New Hampshire?
No. We shred at one place, our office at 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA, about 15 minutes south of the New Hampshire line via I-93 or Route 38. You can drive boxes down Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., book a pickup priced by zone, or call (978) 636-0301 to ask which option fits.
Sources
- FTC: Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, identity theft types, subtypes and the New Hampshire state page (checked November 2026)
- FTC press release, June 2026: reported fraud losses for 2025 (checked November 2026)
- FTC: What to know about identity theft (checked November 2026)
- FTC: What to know about medical identity theft (checked November 2026)
- FTC: What to know about prescreened offers for credit and insurance (checked November 2026)
- IRS: Get an Identity Protection PIN and How long should I keep records (checked November 2026)
Clear out the paper that feeds these frauds
Box up the expired statements, tax years, pay stubs and EOBs, then drive them to Tewksbury on any weekday or book a pickup. You get a Certificate of Destruction for every job, and all of the shred is recycled.
Visit or call
1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876. Route 38 near the I-495 interchange, about 15 minutes south of the NH line. Free parking out front.
Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pickups and witnessed sessions outside these hours by appointment.
Three ways to shred: walk-in drop-off at 99¢ per pound, pickup by zone, or a witnessed session at $1.99 per pound.
New Hampshire Document Shredding · 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876 · (978) 636-0301 · Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.