April 17, 2012 – Roanoke, VA – Better Business Bureau (BBB) invites the Community to BBB “Secure Your ID” Day Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Salem Civic Center, Front Parking Lot. If you don’t need it, dispose of it…responsibly. Residents and small businesses are encouraged to attend this free community service event and take a key step in identity protection by shredding and properly disposing of their sensitive documents. BBB staff will be on-site to provide advice and tips for identity theft protection.
“This is largely a crime of access,” said Julie Wheeler, president of the BBB Serving Western Virginia. “Our goal here is to make the information less accessible and empower people to be their own first line of defense against identity theft. With community-based BBBs across North America collaborating simultaneously, we’ll have a tremendous coast-to-coast presence that will reach a lot of people and, hopefully, prevent a lot of theft.”
BBB Secure Your ID Day Details
Who: Better Business Bureau Serving Western Virginia with partners WSLS News Channel 10, CINTAS Document Management, Blue Ridge Copier, and the Salem Civic Center.
What: Free, on-the-spot document shredding
When: Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Where: Salem Civic Center, Front Parking Lot - Rain or Shine
Thank You to our Sponsors for making this event possible.
Bring up to three boxes or bags of documents to be shredded. Documents to be shredded should be removed from binders, but staples, paper clips, CDs and floppy discs are okay to be shredded.
When looking through your documents to be shredded, BBB recommends considering a few tips before deciding what goes and what stays.
Whether you’re a pack-rat or a skimpy saver, it’s easy to confuse what should be saved versus what should be shredded when parsing through personal documents. With the end of tax season, now is the perfect time to get your personal documents in order. Each person’s tax situation is different and can vary in complexity of records. Saving the appropriate documents should be based on the IRS Code, meaning that all documents should be saved based on the period of limitation of the return. For example, documents for settled accident reports/claims and expired contracts for mortgages, notes should be kept for 7 years, while property appraisals by outside appraisers should be kept permanently.
Taking the time to shred the documents you don’t need and saving the documents you do can make a difference when it comes to securing your identity as well. It only takes one unshredded personal document to give a thief everything needed to steal your identity.”
Identity theft touched the lives of more than 8.1 million adult victims in 2010. According to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research, that theft resulted in the loss of $37 billion dollars. BBB is advising consumers and small businesses alike to know which personal documents should be shredded and which documents should be kept.
If you need more information, contact the BBB at (540) 342-3455 or (800) 533-5501. You can also visit www.bbb.org. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/BBB_WesternVA.
