Protect Your Identity: Shred

Click inside and learn how you can help prevent identity theft by shredding your old documents.

Tuesday, August 26th 2008, 3:57 pm

By: News On 6

By Lori Fullbright, News On 6

If you have a garage, attic or closet filled with old bank statements, tax records or receipts, you are a sitting duck for identity theft.

Police say burglars are increasingly taking papers with personal information on them during break-ins. They can use that information to get credit cards or loans or checking accounts.

Once you're a victim, you could spend months, even years trying to clear it up with banks, businesses and the credit bureaus. That's why it's so important to regularly shred papers you no longer need to save.

The News On 6, the Tulsa Better Business Bureau and Shredders Inc. once again sponsored Shred Fest. Many people took the opportunity to shred personal documents in a professional shredder for free.

At the end of the event, Tulsans had shredded 6.5 tons of documents.

If you are not sure which documents you need to save and for how long, we've got all that information for you on NewsOn6.com. Just click into Lori's Crime Survival Guide and look for the story - "Financial Records Timeline".