Milwaukee, Wis. – On Saturday, September 24, the Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin along with Summit Credit Union will host “ShredFest” – a free document shredding event that helps people protect themselves from identity theft. Two events will be held simultaneously, in Muskego and Madison from 8:30 – 11 a.m.
MUSKEGO MADISON
Summit Credit Union Summit Credit Union
W156 S6840 Moorland Road 1709 Landmark Dr.
Muskego, WI 53150 Cottage Grove, WI 53527
To a thief, personal documents are a gold mine. Equipped with that information, a thief can wreak havoc on your financial life, from opening fraudulent accounts to filing phony taxes in your name.
“There’s a new victim of identity theft every two seconds, and BBB reminds people to keep themselves safe from this crime. One important and effective way to do that is to shred sensitive documents that are no longer needed”, says Jim Temmer, CEO/president of The Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin. “We’re offering free document shredding this upcoming weekend thanks to our partner, Summit Credit Union.”
According to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, identity theft was the number one most reported category to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2020. More than 650,000 reports from people across the country said that their identity was stolen through credit card fraud, loan and lease fraud, bank fraud and other types of fraud.
Also according to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel, in Wisconsin specifically, more than 5,020 reports of identity theft were reported in 2020. Credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft at 39 percent, followed by “other identity theft” (30 percent), loan/lease fraud (15 percent), bank fraud (13 percent) and phone and utilities fraud (13 percent).
The BBB’s shredding event is part of a larger, national shredding event hosted by BBB offices throughout the United States.
Bring up to three bags of check stubs, receipts, junk mail, etc. If a piece of paper or an envelope has your name, identifying information or other sensitive materials, destroy it.
You can shred just about any document, but there are some you should keep for a certain amount of time. The IRS has a few recommendationson tax documents for specific situations. Otherwise, the BBB recommends the following timeline for sensitive document shredding:
* Keep for three years: bank statements. expired insurance policies and employment applications.
* Keep for seven years: invoices, canceled stock certificates, payroll records and withholding statements.
* Keep permanently: deeds, mortgages, tax returns, audit reports, legal correspondence and property records.
For more information about what to shred and what not to bring, please visit our website.
For an online version click here.
For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2020, people turned to BBB more than 220 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 6.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Serving Wisconsin which was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.
