10News I-Team Discovers Personal Info In Dumpster

SAN DIEGO -- Dumpster diving is not a new Olympic event.

A 10News viewer's tip led the I-Team to a serious problem in one particular Lemon Grove trash bin -- the personal information of dozens and dozens of San Diegans being dumped right out in public.

So, the I-Team jumped in.

What the I-Team found in one unlocked Dumpster behind the Postal Annex in Lemon Grove was account numbers, Social Security numbers, medical records and even credit card bills.

All of these highly sensitive, personal documents belong to people who have mailboxes at the Postal Annex.

I-Team reporter Kerstin Lindquist learned that most of the mail found in the Dumpster did not belong to the Postal Annex in Lemon Grove. The mail belonged to the Postal Annex in Encinitas.

"The whole thing is unnerving," said Gary, an Encinitas Postal Annex customer.

Gary's credit card bill ended up 30 miles away in the Dumpster in Lemon Grove.

"It's mail; when it comes in it should be handled impeccably," Gary said.

Gary is right. Not only should it be handled impeccably, it is the law.

"… You must maintain your customers' records and you must dispose of it properly so that, in other words, ID thieves can't get to it," said Deputy District Attorney Keith Burt.

Burt said what the I-Team found could be a violation of the California Civil Code.

Annex Brand Vice President of Marketing Steve Goble disagreed. He said what the I-Team found ended up in the Dumpster because customers threw it in the trash at the Annex office.

"He's asked to shred the entire contents of his trash every day. I think it places an unfair burden on him," said Goble.

Goble believes Postal Annex has no responsibility.

"When our customers place something in trash, they have an expectation that we aren't going to go through and decide if there is something that needs to be shredded. I think they expect when it's in the trash it's trash," said Goble.

The I-Team attempted to contact everyone whose mail was found in the Dumpster, but could not confirm if the mail was trashed by the customers or the Postal Annex employees.

The owner of the Lemon Grove Postal Annex, Victor Singh, was shown what was found.

When asked how the documents ended up in the Dumpster, Singh replied, "I have no idea."

Singh claimed the store does shred all sensitive documents and he showed the I-Team the process.

The shredder doesn't look like it got much use, as it was tucked away in the bathroom under piles of documents.

Singh said the store might need a bigger shredder and promised to be a better shredder.

When asked if he realized the documents could hurt people if they got out, Singh said, "Yes. From now on we will make sure we shred."

However, a mystery remains as to how the Encinitas mail ended up in Lemon Grove.

It turns out Singh owned the Encinitas store as well.

"We bring it from there because we don't have a Dumpster there," he said.

The lesson for Singh and anyone with very personal information? Even though digging through a Dumpster is dirty work, if the I-Team is willing to do it, imagine who else is.

Singh called the I-Team this week to reiterate that he is shredding and he takes it very seriously.

Postal Annex said it is the customer's responsibility to dispose of their own personal information properly and not just throw it in the trash.