It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your secrets are?

"...in the fashionable neighbourhood of Friedrichshain, a German hairdresser was astonished to find a plastic bag containing classified plans for the Bundesbank's new safe in garbage cans in his very own backyard.

The plans detailed "floor thickness, movement detector placements, doors, passageways and barred gates" reported mass circulation daily Bild.

"These plans are secret," was written at the top of the page in bold capitals. (more)

Dumpster Diving in Singapore

In what Singapore's Chief Justice declared was the first time that questions of law have been raised here over the ownership of garbage, the courts allowed an appeal from a group of creditors who had a dump staked out, so as to dig up the dirt on their debtor.

Almost daily for six months, a group of private investigators hired by the creditors — various American investment funds — lurked around the common rubbish dump at Orchard Towers.

From a distance, they would watch cleaners deposit bags of trash. And after the cleaner contracted by two companies, Vestwin Trading and Hilltree Enterprise, made his drop-off, the investigators — taking care not to be spotted — moved in to pick up the bag of trash. (more)

Dumpster diving is alive and well. Take precautions. And, yes... the book is real. Buy it here, and find out how dumpster divers are trained!

Repo Men Have Spy Problems Too

"I have a friend who owns a small company in a larger city here in the South. Not long ago, he discovered that someone was going thru his trash bin when he rolled it out the night before pick up. He happens to have his office and lot next to another business that has security cameras, one of which also covers the front of his building and trash bin in it's scope. When he asked to see the video from a certain night, he learned it was a longtime employee of a medium sized company that we both worked for at one time.

Apparently this guy was dumpster diving to get at any records that would show who his clients are, fee schedules, etc. When we worked together for this larger company, it was not uncommon for us to be told to go by competitor's lots and write down tag numbers on the repo's to get the lien holder info. ...

The last thing we should have to worry about is our fellow repossessor, yet unfortunately, we all need to realize that they are our biggest threat of all." ~ David J. Branch

FartCam Sniffs Out Trash Tippers

UK - A council is to hide cameras inside baked bean tins and brick walls to catch residents who put rubbish in the wrong bins.

The covert surveillance has been ordered by Ealing council to target 'enviro-criminals' an Evening Standard investigation has found. (more)

UPDATE... EALING council was rubbished' in national and London press this week over its decision to use hidden cameras in bags of rubbish. ... (reply) "We make no apology for taking the toughest action against those few who continue to blight our borough without any thought of the impact on the majority of residents." (more)

Richie Rich, Paper Boy

News carriers and retailers in Worcester, Mass., get an unexpected bonus with their usual shipment of the Telegram & Gazette: the credit and debit card numbers of 240,000 subscribers to the paper and its sister publication the Boston Globe, both owned by the New York Times Co.

The security breach is the result of a recycling program in which paper from the Telegram & Gazette's business office is reused to wrap bundles of newspapers. (more)

One man's trash is another man's...

OK - Dumpster diving thieves may have their hands on your private information. Personal documents, with visible bank account information, were found in an overflowing dumpster behind a strip mall near 91st and Yale on Sunday. Some of the documents, which were not shredded, had fallen onto the ground and were blowing around in the wind, police said.

Tulsa Police contacted some of those identified on the documents; their reaction was not a pleasant one. (more)