As tax season winds down, you may be wondering what to do with leftover receipts, statements and financial records. This Saturday, April 16, the Better Business Bureau is offering free shredding to help you safely get rid of sensitive documents.
BBB's Emily Valla says document shredding is important.
"Shredding is one great way to prevent identity theft, which topped the Federal Trade Commissions’ list of top consumer complaints in 2014. And it’s a problem that isn’t going away any time soon," Valla said.
The "Secure Your ID Day" is a free service. BBB representatives will be available to help from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Idaho Transportation Department Headquarters on State Street. You can bring up to three boxes of paper to be shredded. This year you can also safely recycle old computers.
Valla says you should shred any document that has any type of identifying information on it. Such as, name, address, phone number, birth date or social security number. You should also shred junk mail.
"Dumpster diving is a big problem. For example, if you put your garbage out the day before the truck comes by, there’s a chance someone could go through garbage, and if they can find one of those pre-approved credit card offers and maybe another document with personal information, they can take your identity. The idea behind shredding is to remove all opportunity from the thief," Valla said.
For more information visit www.bbb.org.
