12 News Offers 9th Shred-A-Thon

It’s your chance to clean out your file cabinets and protect yourself from identity theft for free by bringing your old documents to the 9th 12 News Shred-A-Thon. 12 News’ consumer protection unit, Call 12 For Action, has teamed up with International Paper and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to help local businesses and consumers minimize their risk of identity theft.

Date:
Monday, November 17

Time:
5 am – 7 pm

Location:
International Paper Phoenix Recycling
301 South 30th Street
Phoenix

People are encouraged to bring in old records and receipts that may have personal information for destruction in International Paper’s industrial shredder. The first five boxes of personal files (the size of a Banker’s Box) will be destroyed without charge. Additional boxes will cost $3 per box. International Paper is only able to accept personal checks as payment. The event is open to both consumers and businesses wishing to get rid of old files in a secure and confidential way. A certificate of destruction will be issued for items destroyed.

12 News will be broadcasting live throughout the day from the Shred-A-Thon in an effort to educate viewers about the dangers of identity theft. Arizona is the number one state for identification theft in the U.S. and Phoenix is the number one city for ID theft, according to data from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Many of these crimes are low-tech and include methods such as dumpster-diving, mail theft and breaking and entering to steal documents with personal information such as social security numbers, birthdates, bank statements and credit card receipts, among other things. Shredding old documents is one way to avoid becoming a victim.

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 90 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly 1,000 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes nearly 300 titles, including 18 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.