Cutting credit cards in half? Not good enough

I

f you think slicing your credit card in half will provide safety from identity thieves, check out what consumer attorney Edgar Dworsky demonstrated on his Mouseprint.org: It doesn't always.

Dworsky, who also runs ConsumerWorld.org, showed how when you cut a card in half you can see the other half of the numbers of the rear of the card -- making half a card about the same as a whole one for a crook. About all that was left for them to do is guess the expiration year.

"The old rule of cutting an expired card in half for disposal no longer works," Dworsky said.

The solution isn't complex. Cut your cards into more pieces -- or, better yet, shred them. If you're scissor cutting them, spread the remains across several garbage bags.

Dworsky noted that only certain cards issued by certain issuers, including remaining cards from Washington Mutual that haven't been converted to Chase accounts, have the problem.

Credit card companies recommend shredding cards and documents containing credit card numbers as part of a strategy to prevent identity theft and fraud.