OK, you’ve taken advice and are shredding your paperwork before throwing it out, but what about that old computer you are about to bin?

32% of discarded computers won’t have their hard drives wiped clean or destroyed said research company GfK NOP and Sainsbury’s bank warns that if these PCs fall into the wrong hands, criminals could use the details stored on the drives to steal the owner’s identity.

Failure to wipe the data could end up being a very stressful and costly mistake if it is used to steal your identity. Indeed, the bank's research reveals that average financial value of this crime amongst those victims interviewed was claimed to be £3,039 each. 

Donald MacLeod, credit card manager, Sainsbury’s Bank said, “Over the years, you can end up storing a great deal of personal information on your computer so it makes sense to wipe clean or destroy the drive before you throw it away. Identity theft is a very serious problem and it is important we all take preventative measures to avoid becoming a victim.”

The bank’s research reveals that between August and October 2006, 1.4 million people threw out computers without destroying or wiping clean their hard drives.

Many more will be throwing out computers after the festive season, said the bank pointing to research from Glamorgan University undertaken in 2006 that revealed out of 200 discarded computer hard drives, 118 were still working, of which 10% still had financial details on them. 

Cleaning the history and deleting files on a computer is not sufficient as the files still exist on the hard disk.  The bank offers the following tips:

• Don't just delete files – sophisticated hackers can still locate these
• Overwrite any unwanted data by running hard-drive wiping software
• In addition to clearing your computer, shred any old bank and credit card statements before throwing them away – 16% were still not doing this last year
• Bank with Sainsbury’s and take out Privacy Guard® insurance to provide cover against identity theft.