The I-Team reached out to several office store chains to see how they safeguard consumers’ private information. “Our handheld phones, our smartphones, are not just phones - they are little computers. Our fax machines and our printers can be ports into our servers,” Velasquez said. “We really have to shift our thinking that these wonderful devices are in a bubble. Her advice: be your own privacy advocate, which means being more aware of where you plug in or print. “About five years ago, several fraud rings were busted buying recycled copy machines where all the images were saved in the hard drive, and probably the more concerning was police departments had recycled their copy machines and all the photocopies and police reports were in the hands of the criminal element,” said Eva Velasquez, who runs the Identity Theft Resource Center. “There is a risk if you leave it inside,” the business owner said.Īnd if the printer at your corner copy store or your office is sold to a new owner, your information could go with it. “All the details that you print or scan, all the information is there,” said one local copy machine store owner.ĮZ Office Machines in Los Angeles buys used copiers and pulls out the old drive before reselling them. Inside every modern copier lives a hard drive that automatically stores every image that’s printed. “I told them – ‘I’m sorry’ is fine, but that doesn’t give me peace of mind,” Deborah said.ĭrive mix-ups aren’t the only risk you could encounter at your local office store. Employees told her they found it in a store safe, but she believes some of her documents were missing.Īfter the company was contacted by the I-Team, a Staples spokeswoman said “we are not aware of any protected personal information being compromised,” but, “we have improved our labeling procedures so this doesn’t happen again.” “Oh, I feel so violated,” the woman said.ĭeborah said it took Staples 24 hours to track down her missing drive. “I noticed other people’s files, someone’s tax returns, invitations, car dealership and some were in Spanish,” she said.ĭeborah used the tax returns to track down the drive’s owner, an Orange County businesswoman who asked NBC4 to not be publicly identified because she is worried the breach might panic her customers. ‘Out of Nowhere': Cessna Pilot Makes Emergency Landing on Ventura Beach
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