The Automobile Club of Southern California and Experian’s ProtectMyID® are hosting a free Shred-a-Thon to help deter identity theft for Orange County Auto Club members and county residents.
The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at Angel Stadium, 200 Gene Autry Way, Anaheim, 92806; enter the Shred-a-Thon from State College Boulevard or Orangewood Avenue.
Auto Club members and the public are invited to bring up to 5 banker boxes or 5 paper grocery bags filled with junk mail and personal papers, that may contain names, birth dates, and account numbers, to the Stadium for free on-site shredding in Cintas document-shredding trucks. They also are invited to bring old computers, monitors, cameras, cell phones, and microwave ovens to recycle in another truck courtesy of 1-800-GOT-JUNK.
More than 11.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year, a 13 percent increase from 2011, according to Javelin Strategy & Research, a California firm that studied identity theft threats.
"The community event is highlighting the importance of destroying personal information properly, a critical step in guarding one’s identity, along with drawing attention to recycling,” said Denise Bialek, Auto Club unit manager of AAA Value Programs.
Plastic bags and binders, folders, computer disks, laminated paper, or other non-paper materials should be removed prior to attending the Shred-a-Thon. Shredded material will be recycled. Items that may dispense hazardous fumes, liquids, or gases cannot be accepted for ewaste.
Guests also will receive identity theft information from Experian’s ProtectMyID®, which provides an identity theft benefit to Auto Club members.
ProtectMyID, part of Experian®, is a leading full-service provider of identity theft detection, protection and fraud resolution. It offers comprehensive identity theft protection products supported by experienced identity theft resolution professionals who deliver personal attention that customers can rely on.
Auto Club and ProtectMyID® staff will greet drivers. Certified Cintas Professionals will load documents into 64 gallon bins, which are dumped into trucks customized to shred large volumes of documents into pin-sized bits. Banker boxes and paper bags also will be collected for shredding and recycling as well. (One visit only to Shred-a-Thon per person, please.)