A shredder is an essential tool to properly dispose of all the sensitive paperwork used for completing your tax return. Identity theft impacted 8.1 million American in 2007. With those kind of staggering numbers, anything you can do to help protect your identity is a good thing.

Image: Fellowes, Inc.

This week, we are giving away paper shredders from Fellowes. Three lucky Bizzia readers will win the PS-79Ci. These shredders retail for approximately $200 each.

The Fellowes’ PS-79Ci maintains cross-cut capabilities, which ensures that paper documents are nearly impossible for identity thieves to piece back together. It also features 100 percent Jam Proof technology that calculates the amount of paper being fed into the machine and stops a paper jam before it occurs. The shredder also detects when paper has been mis-fed or fast-fed into the shredder by turbo-powering through the job or reversing the paper out for easy removal.

Fellowes, Inc. is the world’s leading shredder manufacturer, so you know you are getting a quality product. To learn more about the shredder, visit fellowes.com.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment here on this post and tell us why you want to win this shredder. The contest runs through this Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 11:59 ET. THREE random winners will be selected from all the entries and each will receive a shredder.

Thanks to Fellowes for sponsoring the giveaway!

Here’s  a chilling scam: Not only are con artists stealing people’s identities, they’re stealing their homes, too.

You can read about this particular scam here, on the Web site of the FBI.

It works like this: Con artists select a home to steal. They then assume the owner’s identity by getting his or her name and personal information and using that to create fake IDs and Social Security cards.

The crooks next purchase property transfer forms, forge the homeowner’s signature and file the deeds with the proper authorities.

It sounds too simple.

Last year, the FBI investigated a case in Los Angeles where the owner of a real estate business defrauded more than 100 homeowners and lenders out of about $12 million. The con artist had promised to help struggling homeowners pay their mortgage loans by refinancing their loans. Instead she and her partners used either straw buyers or stolen identities to purchase these homeowners’ residences. The scammers took the money they borrowed but never made any mortgage payments on these homes. The owners, unfortunately, lost their homes.

The scary part is that in today’s Internet age, it’s easier than it ever has been for scammers to steal your identity. The FBI warns homeowners to stay vigilant. If you ever receive a payment book or information from a mortgage company, don’t simply throw the mail away. Look into it. The FBI also recommends that homeowners occasionally visit their county’s deeds office to check information about their properties.