Creating and maintaining secure personal and work environments this National Scam Awareness Month
Did you know that July is National Scam Awareness Month? Its aim is to draw attention to the importance of personal and business security. Although we couldn’t consider this a
reason to celebrate (!), it is obviously very important for all of us to understand the significance of taking precautions and staying safe.
So, what do the organisers mean by a scam or a scam artist? These confidence tricksters and their ruses are usually defined by situations in which a victim’s faith is gained or abused in order to take money, trust or information amongst other things.
An often hidden, yet seriously damaging ‘scam’ is that of Identity Theft. Here at McCarthy’s we are acutely aware of just how dangerous this ever-growing issue can be. The fraud prevention agency Cifas stated that the number of victims rose by 31% to 32,058 in the first three months of 2015, compared to the same period in 2014.
With this in mind we offer a range of confidential shredding services in order to allow our customers – whether businesses or individuals – to safely dispose of their documents, making it impossible for fraudsters to get their hands on identity details.
Shredding options available from McCarthy’s Safe Shred include:
Forty years of expertise within the shredding industry has allowed us to build a reputation as Yorkshire’s most trustworthy and reliable provider of confidential waste disposal. Services provided through both mobile shredding vehicles at your premises and off-site machines at our secure, 24-hour CCTV monitored buildings mean that options are flexible, reliable and quick.
For our regular customers we can provide lockable boxes to dispose of documents into which can be emptied on a 
weekly, fortnightly or 8-weekly basis. Whether you choose a regular or a one-off service, once shredded we provide customers with a certificate of destruction to confirm the amount of paper and date on which documents have been shredded.
At home, shredders can still enjoy the ease of a secure service. For just £10 (plus VAT) we will post sacks out to your home which arrive complete with a confidential seal. After that all you need to do is fill up the sack and drop it back to us at our premises on Meanwood Road, Leeds. Once again any documents will be shredded in our CCTV monitored premises ahead of customers being supplied with a certificate of destruction.
As well as ensuring documents are dealt with confidentially and safely we also pledge to protect the environment through a recycling scheme. The shredded paper we produce contributes towards everyday products including paper towels and toilet rolls.
Finally, in an ever-developing digital world it’s clear that we must continue to proceed with care when operating online, as much as we do with paper. Criminals are becoming smarter. Many crooks now have the ability to take information and customer data direct from discarded laptops or PCs, even after users think they have wiped all data. At McCarthy’s we can securely and confidently clear all data from hard drives, USBs, DVDs or CDs, before disposing of them in accordance with the WEEE Directive, which requires the safe destruction of electrical equipment and electronics.
So this National Scam Awareness Month, we urge you to take safety into your own hands and ensure you are taking every possible preventative step to keep your personal, business and customer data secure. For more information about our shredding services, why not give us a call on 0113 26 24 000.