FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): The Northern Indiana Better Business Bureau is hosting its free shred day from 9-am to Noon this Saturday, November 14.
Residents may bring up to five boxes of documents to be securely shredded on site. Binders cannot be accepted, however, staples, paper clips, CD’s amd floppy disks can be shredded. Crews will be set up at the Afdent Parking lot at 40-41 Parnell Avenue.
Who: Better Business Bureau Serving Northern Indiana
What: Free, drive-up document shredding
When: Saturday, Nov. 14, 9 a.m. to noon – or until the truck is full
Where: Afdent Parking Lot in Fort Wayne, 4041 Parnell Avenue, Fort Wayne, Ind., 46808
Suggested documents to shred include:
- Bank statements, pay stubs, and medical bills more than a year old
- Paid utility bills more than a month old
- Pre-approved credit card or loan solicitations
- ATM receipts
- Supporting tax documents more than seven years old
In addition to shredding documents with sensitive personal data, the BBB offers the following tips to protect you and your family from identity thieves:
Look for unexpected or unexplained withdrawals, charges and accounts. Review your bank, credit card, and other financial statements regularly when they become available. Keep track of when your bills are due. If you see activity you don’t recognize or stop receiving bills, statements, or other communication unexpectedly, that can be a red flag. This can happen when a scammer changes the address associated with your bank, card, or other services. Follow up on missing bills or strange charges immediately. Consider setting up alerts on your accounts so you are notified whenever a transaction is made.
Check your credit reports for unauthorized inquiries or accounts. You can check your credit report, for free, with each of the major credit bureaus once per year at AnnualCreditReport.com. That is the only free credit reporting service authorized by the Federal Trade Commission. If you space those checks throughout the year, you can catch any strange activity before it spirals out of control.
Practice good digital security. Use strong passwords and change them regularly. Make sure you don’t use the same passwords for multiple online accounts. Avoid common passwords and security questions, like your child’s name, birth date, the last four digits of your social security number, pet names, first car or hometown. Much of that information could be gathered from your (or a friend’s) social media.
