throw my (expired) I.D. on the trash bin, wife freaked out

Philippines
August 25, 2009 5:45pm CST
i was sorting at my things and found an I.D. that has no use already. expired and i am not interested on renewing it. after i am through with sorting i went at the living room to watch tv. here now comes wife, holding my I.D. and what do you think you are doing? thats what she said, i answered watching tv. no i mean throwing your I.D. in the trash bin, i said its expired already. no use. then she said its still has your name on it and address and picture. you can throw things like this on the trash bin.... (shes freaking out already) someone might pick this up then used it on something stupid or used it against you. then you will be shock to see your I.D. on a crime scene. (now that sounds like she is watching to many CSI) but just for her to stop freaking out i got the I.D. and kept it again. . question: does she has a point here or just over reacting? or i really did something wrong. you dont throw unused or expired I.D.s?
2 people like this
14 responses
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
26 Aug 09
If it was my spouse, I'd freak out too lol. While I do get rid of old expired ID's, I make sure they are cut up into illegible pieces before throwing them away. Either that or I will burn them. One of my friends had a thrown away ID taken from the dump and it took 3 years to get all his identity theft problems taken care of. Once they have a name and address, and age, it's simple for the crooks to open up credit cards and do all kinds of stuff under your name. While chances are good that it will never get into the wrong hands, it's just safer not to take the risk! If it hadn't have happened to a friend with his garbage, I wouldn't have believed it possible myself. In a report I read it said that an identity is stolen every 3 minutes. Now that IS scary!! Please, destroy them before getting rid of them! The headache you save may be your own lol.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
30 Aug 09
now i know she was not over reacting, but her reactions a re normal. i did not know that this can really lead on something like this. i was thinking of burning it instead. its really dangerous to do that as i read all the responses here. i was not thinking that it was not safe. thanks a lot for the response
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
25 Aug 09
Your wife is quite right. It may be expired and no use but you should always shred such things before putting them in the trash. It only needs several cuts with a strong pair of scissors and it won't be of use to anyone. Just to be on the safe side, put half of the pieces in one bin and keep the others to put in another bin somewhere else. Nothing is impossible to the determined criminal and an outdated ID card might just be picked up, doctored so that the date makes it look valid and used - very likely for a crime. It's only sensible to make such things too hard for anyone to misuse.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
30 Aug 09
thanks for a great suggestion, or after cutting i can put a few at the trash bin today and the few foe the next week. i just need to lost the few cuts so no one can attempt to make it as a jigsaw puzzle. yes i guess nothing is impossible now and a lot can really be doctored. thanks a lot for the response
@livewyre (2450)
5 Sep 09
She is absolutely right, anything like that should be destroyed and NOT put in the trash unless shredded beyond recognition. My wife and I have had our (joint) identities 'stolen' from the electoral roll which is publicly available for anyone to see. Luckily they did not have enough information to gain any credit against our name (they did not have our correct dates of birth). Since that time we NEVER supply a true DOB to anybody but those we really need to, and also we NEVER trash anything with our address or account numbers etc.. it all gets burnt... (that's right MyLot does not have my actual true DOB - sorry but there it is - sue me!)
• Philippines
6 Sep 09
yes livewyre, i understand it now. thanks to you and all the members who give their time to explain me what will happen and what a total id*ot i am. now i know how to take care of this things and make sure that i dont throw anything that gives personla data about me. thanks a lot for the response
@mrbranan (1012)
• United States
25 Aug 09
She has a valid point. Take it from someone who has already had her identity stolen. It is not fun to go to your bank only to find out you are overdrawn. You know you haven't done this so you sit down with the person at the bank and find out some one has cleared out your account and put you in the red. Now do you think she may have a point.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
27 Aug 09
that would not be fun, that would be fear and anger. now i know she has a point, not just a point but a very good and big point. thanks for telling that to me for now i know better than to just think that she is watching too many CSI. thanks a lot for the response
@fwidman (11514)
• United States
25 Aug 09
These days, I think her point is valid. I'd cut that ID up into little pieces and then divide those pieces into several trashcans, preferably at a shopping center somewhere
• Philippines
27 Aug 09
that is what i love about mylot. people will tell you frankly what you really need to know. reading all the responses here makes me feel what a total fool i am. i thought she was just over reacting. now seeing how many people wont throw their id on the waste bin not i am more of a fool. thanks a lot for the response
1 person likes this
• Philippines
4 Sep 09
well its nice to find someone who fits my shoe too har har har i too do a lot of foolishness everyday and sometimes more than three times a day. it does not makes me proud but it makes me think that hey sure i learn something new everyday.
@fwidman (11514)
• United States
27 Aug 09
Not to worry, you are not alone. I do foolish things every day. Just ask my wife and my child
@lampar (7584)
• United States
27 Aug 09
I will not throw my old ID just like that. You will never know who may pick it out later and use it for some other purposes. Just remember this, not all the people in this world are good and decent human being, some can probably use your ID for crime he/she commit on other people, or use it to impersonate you for crime in progress, just to throw off police investigation later on. UNLESS you are 100% sure the place you live is full of honest and good people where your Identity will never be stolen, if not , i advise you to destroy your old ID by shredding it or cutting it into pieces before you throw it out in the bin. Your wife is not over-reacted , pal! She is indeed quite smart freak out by your carelessness, she is right on that, stuffs she mentioned about did really happen in here, but i have no idea how is it in Philippine.
• Philippines
5 Sep 09
that is what my wife say, some one out there might kill someone and leave your i.d. behind. thats the reason i said she is watching too much of CSI or this crime tv shows. but i guess i was wrong it is really dangerous to do that with my i.d. thanks a lot for the response i am so silly and &tupid
@livewyre (2450)
5 Sep 09
more likely they could use that ID to go and get another ID in your name and build it up until they have fuel bills in your name, so they can open a bank account in your name, apply for a drivers license..etc...etc.. It all starts with one ID and doesn't really matter what it is, it can probably be used to eventually end up with someone walking around with your passport if it got into the wrong hands!
@silverglint (2000)
• Philippines
26 Aug 09
Your wife has a point, its better to be safe than sorry. Don't throw away an ID without cutting it to pieces especially if it contains important information about you. I haven't thrown away any of my expired IDs yet because I haven't had the time to cut them to pieces, one of these days I will have to work on that too. It's better to keep your personal information as safe as you possibly can.
• Philippines
4 Sep 09
yes cutting into pieces and or burning it is one of the good ideas i got from all the members who are so generous responding on my discussion. i know now that i am wrong and i know that i should not think that my wife was just watching too much CSI. thanks a lot for the response
@roniroxas (10560)
• Philippines
26 Aug 09
and what are you trying to provethis time? of course an ID is still an ID expired or not. it still contains some of your personal information. for you she sounds like she watches too many CSIs but i guess she has a point. point that maybe does not bother you but if something goes wrong you will be sorry when its too late.
• Philippines
2 Sep 09
har har har, okay i admit it, i am stupid and dumb. there it is. but i guess this only shows that my wife inspect also the trash i put on the bin. if she did not check then she wont find out that i throw that there. good thing she checked . okay i am running out of thing to say thanks for the response
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
26 Aug 09
sorry friend your wife is right in this case. Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime today and something like that would be Gold for someone rooting through your trash. You would not know about it until you get your credit ruined or your bank account cleaned out. Listen to your wife. Listen to the other posters above about destroying identity cards before you throw them away.
• Philippines
4 Sep 09
nice avatar you have there mariposa, my son enjoys looking at it while i am typing my comment got you. he is entertained . yes after reading all of the responses here nobody was at my page, and i am so ashamed of myself that i have to think that my wife was just over reacting. yes i wont know until the damage is done. thanks a lot for the response
@prinzcy (32322)
• Malaysia
26 Aug 09
She's right, you might be in big trouble if you throw it away just like that. No wonder she was freak out. You id, even an old one, contains information about you. Starting from your face to where you life and others. You might face the risk of it being used by identity theft and more. Discarded it into pieces before throwing it away. Unless the theft has a fond for puzzle, he/she will not take time to find all the pieces which may separated in different places.
• Philippines
30 Aug 09
just throwing it i was in big trouble with my wife and if she did not see that i might be in a more bigger trouble. i think it is much safe to burn it for some might be interested with puzzle har har har. thanks for clearing this thing to me, thanksa lto for the response and helping me out too.
@trisha27 (3494)
• United States
26 Aug 09
She is being right when she told you you can't just throw your information out like that. And it is true that people can get ahold of your information. People rummage through the trash all the time looking for things like this and that will be peoples information. If you're going to throw things out like that especially with your information you should cut it up first or shred it. Things that may have your name, your phone number, your address, your social security number and so on. Anything that is personal and that you wouldn't want people to get ahold of. You should shred it or cut it up.
• Philippines
5 Sep 09
thank you for that, and yes after posting this discussion i can say that i learned my lesson and i learned a lot. some people who have experience regarding identification and also some people who knows someone who had a problem regarding identification. that is scary and i dont like that to happen to me. thanks a lot for the response
• Philippines
26 Aug 09
My vote would go for your wife! She is just so sweet to think like that of you. You know how this world works, right? Someone may use your name against someone too. She was just being careful. Give your wife a big thanks the next time you see her. Though, if she really watched CSI a lot, she may tone it down to avoid being over suspicious.
• Philippines
2 Sep 09
that makes you 7th and counting . yes i know how this world works, but i never thought that it was more crazy than i though it was. i gave her a big thanks and bought her her favorite cake and we ate that with a good cup of coffee i said i was sorry and i told her that i learn something from that, she may watch a lot of CSI but sure it does help. thanks a lot for the response
@nijolechu (1842)
• Canada
26 Aug 09
Yes, I do think your wife is right with this point here. You should cut all your personal I.D. cards into little pieces before you throw it out. There are a lot of Identity thieves out there waiting for your personal information so they can do bad things with it.
• Philippines
4 Sep 09
from now on nothing personal things will go to the bin that easily i am a fool to do that and fool to think that my wife was just over reacting. i know better now thanks to my wife and thanks to all the members who made an effort to tell me that i was wrong. thanks a lot for the response
• United States
26 Aug 09
sorry man your wife is right. i even shred my bills anything with my name on it. id theft is multi million dollar business based on cnn last report. i'm glad you have a smart wife helping you watch out for the family.