Thunder Bay Crime Stoppers wants to tear into identity theft by offering the public a chance to shred personal or sensitive documents.
The shredding event sponsored by Thunder Bay Police Service, the Crime Prevention Council and Crime Stoppers will be held on the CLE grounds on March 24 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is free for people to come by with personal or sensitive information and have it shredded by Enviroshred.
Crime Stoppers Coordinator Const. Julie Tilbury said most people aren’t aware when they become victims of identity theft because once the information is taken then it could take a couple of months before anything seems unusual.
“We thought this was a great grassroots initiative for Crime Stoppers to engage the community in starting their spring cleaning early,” Tilbury said.
“We do have quite a number of fraud related files that do come into our department. Identity thefts is a bit of a hit or miss. We want encourage people to do a credit check on themselves every year so you can see if anyone is trying to get any credit in your name.”
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She said they are limiting people to two bags per person and added they will be taking donations to support Crime Stoppers.
Tom Walters, vice-chair of the Crime Prevention Council, said he takes every measure to protect his identity and personal information and has a shredder at home that he uses to destroy any sensitive documents. He said it is a growing issue not only in Thunder Bay but also in many communities.
“I think this is a great initiative,” Walters said.
“The Crime Prevention Council is very interested in finding ways to help people avoid crimes. Crime Stoppers and the Thunder Bay Police have come together to offer an opportunity to the public to know how to protect their identity.”
He added that people can’t live in a bubble and think that identity theft can’t happen to them. People need to take steps to protect themselves, he said.
