May 2, 2007

NEWS: Seattle’s Own Shred-a-Thon

Seattle, Washington’s Yakima Herald-Republic newspaper announced recently that city residents will have the opportunity to take part in a “Shred-a-Thon” to help combat identity theft. The concept of a citywide shredding blitz has really caught on in the last year or two, as major municipalities discover that a gap in education is one of the biggest culprits for the prevalence of identity theft. Locals are invited – urged, actually – to load up the car or truck with all the sensitive documents they’ve been holding onto, and bring them down for communal destruction. Individuals are limited to two boxes or three grocery bags of shred materials – but that’s still an awful lot!

The festivities planned at Yakima are just one of 29 events being held at cities across the state, with similar intent. On top of providing a public service by providing the means for consumers to destroy private documents that might otherwise end up in the trash (and consequently, in the hands of brazen identity thieves), city officials are also planning on providing educational materials meant to help in the prevention and proactive solution of identity theft. The event is the brainchild of Law Enforcement Group against Identity Theft, or LEGIT, and is sponsored locally by Wray's and the Yakima Valley Credit Union.


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