BBB, Partners to Hold "Community Shred It Days"

Shredding is considered to be a key element in your efforts to protect yourself against Identity Theft, which has become the nation's fastest-growing white collar crime.

To help raise awareness of the need for people to shred their sensitive documents, and in observance of National Consumer Protection Week, the Better Business Bureau of Mississippi (BBB) is teaming up with a number of state and local organizations, businesses and government agencies to hold four "Community Shred It Days" events on Feb. 9 and 10, 2007. Onsite shredding trucks from Shred-It! document shredding service will be parked in the parking lots of the locations listed below from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.. Individuals may bring up to five bags of documents per person. (No businesses, please.)

The events will be held at the following locations:

Feb. 9, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Southaven: Wal-Mart Supercenter
6811 Southcrest Parkway
Southaven, MS 38761

Jackson: The Home Depot
6325 I-55 North
Jackson, MS 39213


February 10, 2007, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Hattiesburg: Wal-Mart Supercenter
6072 Highway 98 West
Hattiesburg, MS 39402

Gulfport: Wal-Mart Supercenter
9350-A Highway 49
Gulfport, MS 39503

"We urge consumers to bring any documents with their name, address, account numbers or other information to one of these four locations to be destroyed free of charge," said Bill Moak, BBB Mississippi President and CEO. "You'd be surprised how much information you give out when you throw it away."

Often, crooks can get valuable information about you from your trash, such as bank statements, pre-approved credit card solicitations, and bills. The practice of "dumpster diving" (when crooks rifle through your garbage looking for information) is on the rise. Examples of some types of old documents you might want to consider shredding include:

• Bank, Credit Card and Investment Account Statements.
• Cancelled checks.
• Credit Card Solicitations.
• Address lists, such as those from your child's class at school or from groups to which you belong.
• Utility bills.
• Anything with your name, address, or personal information.

Community Shred Days are sponsored by these organizations: Mississippi Attorney General's Office; Better Business Bureau of Mississippi; Mississippi Secretary of State's Office; Mississippi State University Extension Service; Mississippi Leadership Council on Aging; Shred-It; Wal-Mart; The Home Depot; Coca-Cola and BancorpSouth.