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SALT LAKE CITY — If your list of stuff to toss out during spring cleaning includes an old fax machine, you could be putting your personal information in jeopardy.
Even though you haven't used that fax in years, it could provide a wealth of information to identity thieves.
Many homes and businesses still have an old fax machine. When they are thrown away, crooks can get enough info from the old machine to steal an identity.
KSL wanted to see how easy it was, so we bought three old fax machines from want ads posted on KSL.com. The most we paid was $15.
It took only seconds to pop open a machine and pull out what's called a thermal transfer ribbon. It's similar to the old carbon paper used in typewriters. Just like carbon paper, the ribbon keeps a copy of every document that went through the machine.
The ribbons from each machine we bought had personal information on it. One ribbon contained a power of attorney form that was filled out. The other two ribbons had sensitive health care information tucked inside.
All the ribbons had names, phone numbers and addresses. One even had Social Security numbers on it.
Old-school fax machines are not the only concern.
Scott Kay is national sales manager at Metech Recycling, a certified recycler of electronic waste.
"We leave it wide open," he said. "It's like opening up a wallet and handing them whatever they need. We hand it over to them."
MeTech recycles millions of pounds of Utah e-waste every year, including old fax machines and printers.
"We see everything from the old thermal type of printers to where that particular cartridge actually rolls and there is data on that," he said.
Kay said even if you're trying to get rid of a newer printer or fax machine that do not use thermal ribbons, you're not in the clear. Some of these machines have hard drives or flash memory that store images of your documents.
"A lot of these have it in the back. Very simple — you just pull out the guts. Here's the internal machine on that, but here's the hard drive," he said.
It can contain Social Security numbers, tax data, contacts and phone numbers.
MeTech destroys any component that could possibly have personal information. But if an old-style fax machine or other device gets thrown out or sold online for a few bucks, it can end up in the wrong hands. The information can be used against you.
"You need to research the manufacturer's recommendations on how to clear that data. At the very least you can actually pull these drives out and shred them," he said. "That may reduce the value of the machine, but what you have on that stays with you."
So, if you're going to sell an old fax machine or drop it off at a thrift store, shred that ribbon first.
For copy machines and computers, remove and destroy the hard drives.
Or you can pay a certified recycler that completely dismantles the machine.
