Ok, I know it sounds absurd but has me concerned. I thought not to post it but we have been worried.

My housemate (garage apt, we dont live together) told me that our garbage has been taken, not once but twice. The first time she didnt mention it because she thought it was a bit crazy. This time we put our trash outside for removal. In the morning our bags were gone but the neighbors garbage was still there for pick up.

Now I should explain that my housemate is a regular Mid West sort of gal, stable and not disposed to illusions, believes in heartland America, apple pie and football. If anyone would be paranoid it would be me. I am an anti-war activist with ties to all kinds of stuff, by family and other. I did not notice the garbage thing.

I realize that I am putting credibility on the line here, and do not do it flagrantly. If I had thought our garbage was stolen I would question my sanity, as she did at first.
We have been wondering why anyone would steal our garbage? We are two single females. My theories are 3, none of them good.
1. A stalker
2. Possible identity theft from credit card numbers
3. surveillance?

Has anyone ever had their garbage go missing? Any thoughts, just for fun?

I see people rummaging through my trash all the time. They are looking for cans and bottles for the deposit. Some states like MA, NY, and CT charge a certain amount of money so that you are forced to return the cans. Maybe Alaska has something like that?

I used to live in Midland, Michigan. The city provided garbage pickup there, and removed anything that was at the curb on trash pickup day. Some people regularly augmented their income by driving around during the night and picking up furniture, appliances, televisions, etc. to sell at garage sales later. One co-worker claimed that he earned about $10,000 a year by "Taking a long route to work every morning."

Contact your local colleges. Sometimes criminology, anthropology, or sociology courses assign something like this; to demonstrate what can be learned about someone by going through their garbage.

There may be an innocent reason.

The theories that you put forward are valid fears, however. (Our "family motto" growing up was, "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean no one is actually out to get you.") If you are concerned, I would recommend the following countermeasures:

Contact the police and credit reporting agencies just in case it is a stalker or someone trying to gain information for identity theft. They will likely tell you that it is not theft. (I believe the Supreme Court has actually ruled on this.) Nonetheless, if something adverse happens later, you will have a record of notifying them.

If you have not done so already, invest in a good shredder (cross cut) and shred anything that resembles personal identification, such as utility bill receipts, bank statements, credit card offers, shopping lists, personal correspondence, etc. It will make life more difficult for identity thieves, police, FBI, or other surveillance.

Set your alarm earlier on trash day, and put the trash out in the morning rather than leaving it out overnight. It will provide a smaller window of opportunity.

Our garbage has been rummaged through by people looking for bottles and cans for recycling, and there are a lot of people who go "dumpster diving" just looking for goodies. The people that I know who have done the dumpster diving thing are gutter punks or artists looking for sculpting materials. If they found something good in your garbage once, it's normal for them to return.

I wouldn't worry about it, but I would make sure that you aren't throwing away sensitive data in the garbage can without destroying it first.

I regularly rummage through our rubbish in the hope that a neighbour might mistake our bin for theirs and put something valuable in it, like a partly used $1.5million cheque.
Or a soiled Lamborgini.

I live in hope...........Alan

I dont know where you live but its pretty common around here for people to leave garbage or things they dont want on their lawn and have other people sift through it and take things. But, I live in a college town and poor area close to DC so maybe thats why. Could be a homeless person or poor person.

I second Curmudgeon's suggestion to get a shredder. They are relatively inexpensive and beats the heck out of dealing with the headache of identity fraud.

Personally, I shred all old bills, credit card offers and anything I think reveals personal information. I have a few prescriptions and when I discard a empty bottle I always remove the labels and tear them up. My checks only have my name and address. No phone number.

There may be a very innocent reason why your trash is being rummaged through or stolen Artemise. I would suggest that you merely be cautious of what you're throwing away. If you use cans or bottles instead of throwing them in with the rest of the garbage, separate them in plastic grocery bags. The guys and gals that rifle through the trash containers in the alley seem to appreciate it.

Ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.

I live in a townhome. There are I think 30 townhouses. We all have recycling bins. No one has ever took my garbage but they took the #### bin. It doesn't cost anything to get a bin unless you need more than one. Then it is 7.00. So I had to go to the Village hall and get another one. They paint your address on it. It didn't cost me anything to replace it cause I told them someone took it. One day when I am off and the garbage bins are out I am just for courisity sake see if I can find out who took the stupid thing.

Gratuitous profanity removed - geez, mom -J

I just recently read yesterday's newspaper.

The Dear Abby column for October 2, 2003 focused on "Security Month," and addressed several issues re: identity theft, things that you shouldn't throw away, etc. It's worth reading. There is an archive calendar on the left side of her web page that will take you back to the October 2 column.