By Staff
May 6th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Crime Stoppers of Halton, in partnership with FileBank Canada, is hosting two Shred Events this May to help combat Identity Theft and other fraud.
The Burlington event will be held Saturday, May 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the parking lot at M.M. Robinson High School on Upper Middle Road. The Shred Event in Oakville will take place on Sunday, May 27, from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the parking lots (A, B, C) of Halton Regional Centre on 1151 Bronte Road.
Shreds sensitive documents.
For a cash donation to Halton’s Crime Stoppers program, residents and business owners can feed FileBank’s “Beast” – a state-of-the-art mobile shredding vehicle – to ensure destruction of personal and sensitive documents so they are not used by scam artists to defraud victims.
Identity Theft remains one of the largest means of fraud with losses running into the billions of dollars
Detective Constable Jodi Richmond, police coordinator of Halton Crime Stoppers, said it’s important for people to protect themselves from becoming victims by ensuring any documents with personal information are destroyed properly.
The flow of people wanting to have sensitive financial documents shredded is usually consistent all day.
She also warned that anyone can become a victim of Identity Theft, but seniors are particularly vulnerable because of the amount of paper work they amass through the years from financial institutions and other sources.
“Items such as cancelled cheques, financial records, old letterhead, invoices, copies of job applications or anything containing personal information can easily be used by criminals to obtain credit cards; steal money from bank accounts; procure passports or other identification and even get a mortgage on your home without you even knowing,” Richmond said. “Destroying confidential and business documents is the best way to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud.”
Halton Crime Stoppers is committed to helping people protect themselves from this crime with conveniently located community shred campaigns across the region throughout the year.
Detective Constable Richmond
Detective Constable Richmond also pointed out that FileBank’s process is eco-friendly since all sensitive documents pulverized through the mobile shredding equipment is recycled into new paper products.
In addition, those bringing old financial records and other documents to the shredding site in Burlington will receive a 500-sheet package of recycled paper courtesy of Domtar, one of Canada’s leading paper producers.
“Shred events hosted by Crime Stoppers of Halton are a win-win situation for everyone,” Richmond said.
