CUMMING — Authorities are investigating a former used car dealership that may have left customers’ confidential information, including Social Security numbers and financial information, in an open trash bin for any eye to find.

According to a Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies responded to 1605 Canton Highway — once home to North Atlanta Motors — on Dec. 10 after a caller said there was suspicious paperwork in an open-air Dumpster next to the abandoned building.

“It appeared the business … had thrown vital paperwork with personal information away inside the Dumpster,” the report said. “Due to the nature of the paperwork, the information was forwarded to [detectives].”

Sheriff’s Cpl. Robin Regan said the paperwork in the bin included personal data such as Social Security numbers, tax information, bank accounts and blank checks.

There is a civil law, he said, that makes it illegal to improperly dispose of financial documents.

It could not immediately be determined when the car dealership closed or how long the documents had been there.

The matter could turn criminal, though there is not yet any evidence that suggests the documents fell into the wrong hands or that customers of the dealership, which operated across the highway from Sawnee Elementary School, have had personal information used against them.

Regan said no one has been arrested in connection with the case. A state civil investigation is ongoing.