MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
And it's not the first time either. There's a couple living in a top floor flat across the road that moved in around 6-9 months ago. Mrs deadly had seen them going through the recycling once everybody's gone to work but before the recycling people come round. Specifically, it's the paper recycling they go through, not the bottles and cans. Another neighbour with whom we're good friends says she'd seen them doing it as well, shortly after moving in. Now, they hadn't been seen doing it for ages but I just had a text from mrs deadly to say she's seen it again this morning.
So what are they up to? Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I'm of the thought that they're probably looking for magazines etc. that people have thrown out. On the other hand, the suspicious side of me wonders if they're looking for stuff with peoples' names and addresses. If the latter was the case, doing it in broad daylight seems a bit daft.
I'm not sure whether to have a word with them or not now. The bloke is a single speeder of the "fakenger" variety, which doesn't really fit in with the profile of an identity theft operation and seems friendly and always says hello when we pass. I don't want to seem like a horrible neighbour but a few of the rest of us are a bit concerned.
Over to you lot. Any suggestions?
A few copies of 50plus at the top should put them off. I would imagine.
damit someone got there first, asian fanny fever and minge monthly would have been my suggestions.
Wee in the recycling bin.
I'd shred,cut up any paper with personal information,put it in general refuse and stop worrying,spying on the neighbours 😀
agree, shred anything important and dont worry. Also, tell em you have seen them doing it and ask if there are any magazines they want you to give them once you are finished.
[i]I'd shred,cut up any paper with personal information[/i]
Ditto, we even shred anything with just our name and address on it.
[i]The bloke is a single speeder of the "fakenger" variety, which doesn't really fit in with the profile of an identity theft operation[/i]
That's a very good reason for distrusting him. Riding around with no brakes? The guy clearly lives only for the day.
Why not just ask them up front.
Either:-
1) "WTF are you doing bellend?"
2) "I say dear boy, might I enquire as to what you are doing?"
I am with the comments about asking them if there are any particular magazines/papers they would like keeping. At least that way they know that YOU know and *may* cease if they are doing something suspicious.
Shred the important stuff or keep a herd of snapping turtles in the bin to keep the pesky git away.
Or lay a copy of MBUK on top, that should keep him away
I don't shred anything. One less thing to worry about 🙂
Write, in big letters on a piece of paper that you put on top of the pile, "Dear xxxx, Please stop rummaging through my recycling. If I ever suffer from identity theft I'll show the photos to the police"
Take photo of them doing it.
Print to A3.
Leave print in recycling.
so they are recycling recycled waste?
Or do you think they are look for personal credit information, which is different?
I used to be a skip scavenger (with permission from the owner).
Its how I did up my first two properties, you would be amazed back in the early 90's how much decent stuff used to be thrown out with modern building renovation.
Nice fireplaces, decent radiators, old pine doors, sash windows, not to mention quality floor boards, the list was endless.
Does not happen now though 😉
Could you not build a massive jack in the box?
That would be ace.
The SW massive are being rather generous - WTF is he doing opening and going through your rubbish?! For the sake of civility offer your magazines but kindly state you're not keen on him going through your paper waste.
sad world when you ask 'us' before your neighbour.
Ask them what they are looking for, as several people have noticed them searching. Do it in a friendly way and say if its magazines or suchlike, you and the neighbours will put them aside for them.
It looks friendly, they know they have been seen by lots of people. If they are doing something harmless they should be happy to say so.
Hehe, I did think everyone's being a bit generous. Look, I'm not bloody spying on my neighbours. Mrs deadly looks out the window and sees another neighbour going up and down the road rummaging through everyone's stuff? It's hardly everyday behaviour and mrs deadly is hardly a spying type, believe me.
Nothing with our name and address goes in the recycling anyway so it's not that I'm concerned about. But others may not be so careful.
Maybe he is a keen [url= http://www.papiermache.co.uk/ ]Papier Mache[/url] enthusiast?
I always shred anything with contact details, references and account numbers on it, though unfortunately this usually means you can't subsequently recycle it.
rummaging through everyone's stuff?
Not your stuff once you've put it out to be binned, is it? If you're not stupid enough to be binning personal information and the neighbour isn't leaving a mess what's the problem?
as above, ask them what they're after so you can do the neighbourly thing and put it aside for them.
Not your stuff once you've put it out to be binned, is it?
Doesn't it become "property of the crown" or some such thing once it is put out in bins? I'm sure there is some weird legal protection there.
Just cut out the middle man and dump the whole lot through his letter box.
GrahamS - it is still technically "your" stuff, and is protected under theft laws, but if you've discarded it you a) clearly dont want it and b) shouldn't really mind that someone else may be able to make use of it. Assuming you're not stupid and shred important stuff there should be absolutely no reason that you care if someone is looking at it.
Do what I do, put all your personal stuff letters etc in the normal bags.
I doubt they'd bother to steal and rummage through your bin bags.
Who the **** buys a shredder??
Who the **** buys a shredder??
Me, for one. The shredded paper goes in the compost bin.
Do what I do, put all your personal stuff letters etc in the normal bags.I doubt they'd bother to steal and rummage through your bin bags.
I'm not sure if you're trolling or if you're just naive. Where do you think ID theft occured before people had recycling bins?
Who the **** buys a shredder??
Every household I have close contact with has one. And thats not suggesting they buy them because of me, I'm not an ID theft person, in fact I was the last person to buy one! 😀
Sparay them with water, oh sorry thats cats.
Pilled all my old newspapers, old autocars and bikemags in the black plastic tub provided and there was a note when we cameback from holiday saying 'cant take not seperated'. As it had been a few days (been on holiday) passing people had put their crisp wrappers etc on top/treated it abit like a street bin. So, I emptied the whole lot including the tub into out wheelie bin.
Thankfully in the paper pile there were no guardians.
They might be journalists - do you have any news worthy neighbours? If they are journalists just bludgeon them and stuff them in with the landfill. Nobody will miss them. Try not to get any gore on the recycling though.
Whats the worst that could happen if you asked them? They might be doing something really interesting. Perhaps they are worried that people are contaminating the recycling by putting the wrong stuff in with it, so are keen to check that their efforts aren't being cancelled out by other people's errors, maybe its the little plastic windows in envelopes they are checking on.
Maybe they've lost an important document and checking to see if they've thrown it out in error.
If identity theft was their motive then the advent of sorted waste, and all the paper kept nice and clean and together is a bit of a gift. Chucking your ID in with the general waste is a guarantee of nothing though, if you are going to the trouble of treating your paperwork differently why not just do the job properly?
I'm not sure if you're trolling or if you're just naive. Where do you think ID theft occured before people had recycling bins?
Not naive just not a paranoid anal freek 😆
Shredder, sure if you own/run your own business but for personal use? GTFO!
They all have them down our way dont you know! lmfao!
Not naive...
Your comments after this one suggest otherwise!
I'm far from paranoid, but having seen my bank details on some paper on the floor 300 yards from my house and having a friend who's had someone steal his info from his bin I decided it wasn't worth the risk. YMMV
I found vast swathes of police transcripts of interviews, naming the suspects (supported by their bank statements and other personal documentation) going into quite a lot of detail about their case and naming the officer interviewing. Reams of them. They were in some second hand filing cabinets we'd hired from a prop house. We thought they were leftovers from a Taggart shoot until someone realised that they knew one of the PCs named in the interviews.
Who the **** buys a shredder??
Me.
Every household I have close contact with has one
Yep +1. Mental not to frankly.
write
STOP LOOKING IN MY XXXXXXXX BINS
On a sheet of white A4 paper and leave it on the top of the rubbish.
either that or tape it to the underside of the lid.
kill him
[i]Shredder, sure if you own/run your own business but for personal use? GTFO![/i]
20 quid from a supermarket. It's your lookout though.
WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!!
Not naive just not a paranoid anal freekShredder, sure if you own/run your own business but for personal use? GTFO!
Hmmm... It seems that official advice rather favours us "paranoid anal freeks"...
Personal information and safe disposal - Better to shred
Make sure you don't make it easy for the criminals, destroy household utility bills, bank statements and credit card bills safely.-- [url= http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/CityPolice/ECD/ScamsAdvice/IdentityTheft/ ]Identity Theft Advice, City Of London Police[/url]
Identity fraud is a growing crime, costing the country more than £1.3 billion a year... Shredding personal documents such as bills, receipts and bank statements is one way people can reduce the risk of falling victim to fraudsters and an estimated one million personal shredders are sold each year as a result of public concern about identity fraud.-- [url= http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/Shredding_The_Risk_Of_Id_Fraud?version=1 ]Shredding The Risk Of Id Fraud, Home Office[/url]
Yep, we have a shredder and shred everything with our details on. Irony is, we've just been told that we can't put shreded paper in the recycling! Seems it upsets the new and expensive recycling plant that's been built!
I'd have a word with them and really they shouldn't be very surprised at someone asking them why they are rummaging through the bins. As others have said shred everything (lots of people I know have a shredder).
Leave a magazine on top of the pile with a fresh 'load' deposited inside - that'll stop them.
Maybe they aren't taking stuff out, but putting stuff in to cover their tracks as they are international terrorists. What they are doing is implicating you and your neighbours in the next big terror attack?
Maybe...
Shredded paper can go in the paper bank though, when you do the bottle bank run. Household recycling is air separated to start and thats why they don't like shredded paper or carrier bags in the stream.
Irony is, we've just been told that we can't put shreded paper in the recycling
Yep. For the less sensitive mail we just tear off the first sheet (where reference numbers, name and address etc are) shred that and recycle the rest.
If you compost at all then you can always stick the shredded paper in your compost bin.
I burn sensitive paper in my chimenea. Can't whack a nice burn up.
[i]I burn sensitive paper in my chimenea.[/i]
Does it cry?
It screams.
[i]I used to be a skip scavenger. [/i]
the correct term is 'skip pikey'. HTH.
maybe they're just addicted to doing puzzles, crosswords and suduku and have worked out that they could save themselves a load of cash if they let their neighbours supply the papers and magazines.
It's autumn, they're clearly building a nest for a winter's hibernation.
We used to live in a city centre flat with communal bins, the bin store had locks, but they were pretty weedy and a number of people got scammed. I got fed up of bring all our sensative post to work to put in the confidential waste, so we got a shredder.
So there.
I have an OOD marine emergency flare . Its yours if you want it. Tape it securely to the inside of the bin with Gaffa tape, and tie the triggger string to the lid. When the wonker opens the lid... lots and lots of bright red smoke, for about a minute , its only a small one. He will not go near anyone elses bin again . Ever .
Ask them what they're up to, perfectly reasonable question IMO.
And come back and tell us what they say, sounds like this could be a good one.
second that...
Curl one out and leave in a shoebox at the top of the bin.
The day before recycling day empty one of the green bins. You crawl in. Post notes through all your neighbours' letterboxes telling them where you are, so they can look out of their windows.
Wait for the bin skavengers to come along, they open your bin and BOOO ! They get the scare of their lives and all your neighbours get a good laugh.
Take pics of the incident, post them on here, become a legend.
The next time they do it Id go out & ask 'em. Id love to see their faces & hear there answer!
Anyone got any ideas on the legal view with this? I seem to remember something about this in the news before?..
I'm convinced it's harmless myself but it's just a bit weird, that's all. I guess I'm going to have to ask now aren't I.
You can't be too careful these days.
Report them to the relevant authorities.
c'mon dammit, we want to know what they're up to!
why be so protective about your rubbish. presumably you're not stupid enough to put your bank statements in there
one man's recycled porn is another man's treasure
If some Pikey goes through my recycling I'd ask him WTF is he doing...
If I'm stupid enough to put something exploitable in the re-cycling then I'm a knob.
We've just had our green boxes swapped for another bloody wheelie bin. Now, if the sad individual was to lean inside, & "accidentally" fall in, wouldn't that be funny.
deadlydarcy - MemberNothing with our name and address goes in the recycling anyway so it's not that I'm concerned about. But others may not be so careful.
in that case, unless your name's bruce wayne, i'd do precisely nothing. let the others amend their ways/have a word if they see fit.
So I take an "I'm alright Jack" attitude. Society is indeed dead.
Society is indeed dead.
It is yes
Could you not build a massive jack in the box?
That would be ace.
^ I think that's my favourite idea so far!
Why didn't your wife ask them, if she's so concerned?
If you leave a box with magazines out, why shouldn't someone reuse them?
Around here, there seems to be a policy of leaving unwanted goods on the garden wall so that anyone passing can help themselves. We've got rid of loads of stuff that way, and also acquired shelving etc. It works well.
deadlydarcy - MemberSo I take an "I'm alright Jack" attitude. Society is indeed dead.
well not really, but you have no proof of anything untoward, and you are not at risk.
Well mrs deadly probably didn't feel up to approaching someone on her own like that so thought she'd ask her nosey neighbour husband. We've constantly been saying that if we see them doing it again, we'll say something but always chicken out, saying something like "ok, one more time..."
If indeed, they're looking for magazines etc, then as I've said, there's nothing wrong with that...I'm all for it in fact. It's just that I don't actually know for sure what they're doing...in these days of junk mail coming through from every dog and its mother, I'll bet there are people on the road that possibly chuck anything in the recycling with names addresses etc on there without a second thought...unlike all us super vigilant STWers.
was it[url= 
]this guy[/url]? I think the only reason to worry is if you're a celebrity.. Kerb side recycling is a pain anyway, I'd sooner sort it myself and have the proper bin emptied weekly and pay less council tax...
I'd be concerned about identity theft personally but they could be innocent.
Just go and ask them and let us know if you are still alive.
If you don't post we'll assume you've been murdered by the crazy couple.
Can I have your bike?
Seriously just ask because it is weird.
The papers all used to use a guy called Benjamin Pell to go through celeb's bins for stories. It isn't necessarily just names, addresses and bank statements. He was eventually served with an ASBO from memory, but also had various restraining orders preventing him from going through bins in certain places.
It's probably harmless, and my gut reaction is to ask them if there's something specific they're looking for. Dumpster diving for free stuff is actually a pretty good thing to do, but they should ask nicely first. 😉
As an aside, I help manage a block of flats, and tenants moving out have left behind bucketloads of valuable stuff, and continue to do so. Mostly furnishings, including a pair of very nice, brand new kitchen chairs, big mirrors, rugs, you name it. All stuff they don't want to take with them and are too lazy to take to the tip or Freecycle get dumped. We normally put it on Freecycle or give it to a local outdoor activity centre so the staff can furnish their accommodation.
My reply to the original post would have to be 'beat him like a ginger stepchild'.
our shredded paper is used for bedding the cattle, or else sensitive stuff goes on the fire. my recycle box is all envelopes and unwanted, un-solicited crap. anyone's welcome to go through mine.
ReallyOldGit is 6 months behind the rest of us?
lol what a revival!!
Holy thread resurrection Batman! FWIW, we got around seven or eight of the neighbours together, knocked on their door and asked what was going on. They were a little reluctant to explain so we sort of "asked" them not to do it anymore.
I think Call-me-Dave would be proud of us for taking control of our neighbourhood.
why did you find this?
Who's going to break it to him, that the WWII is over too. 🙂