8 documents you need to shred right now

Get ready to clean out your drawers and dig through old financial papers; your identity could depend on it.

The personal documents you have stored away at your house could be the key an identity thief needs to ruin your life. 

“I even recommend shredding flyers, anything that comes to you with your name and address on it -going that far,” said Maryann McKessy who runs the County Attorney’s Office Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement Bureau in Phoenix.

She advises everyone to invest in a cross paper shredder and get to work.

First thing to go, tax returns older than three years.

“There's a plethora of information and vital information: your name, your date of birth, your social security number, and the social security number of your children,” said McKessy.   

Shred those bank statements, so thieves can't use your account information.

Pay stubs and canceled checks provide a wealth of information about you -those should go in the shredder too.

While you're at it, shred old photo ID’s and all of those credit card offers.        

“It's all building blocks for them, said McKessy. So, why even give them that small piece?”

Not going to use credit card convenience checks?

Then, get rid of them.

Finally, shred those canceled credit cards. 

“They can recode credit card numbers on to those cards, so that's great stock to have for them to build on, “ McKessy warned.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.