Shredding for identity safety

SOUTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) - This year 7 million people will be the victim of identity theft, but two Springfield area towns held shred-events Saturday, aimed at sharply reducing that number.

In the time it takes to read this news story, about 13 more people will have lost their identity.

“I know two people who lost their identity, and it took them a couple years to get it back, so be careful,” said Carolyn Gero of Southampton.

In fact, the Identity Theft Resource Center says a person spends about 600 hours recovering from identity theft.

In Southampton, a free community shred event brought our residents who loaded up their vans and trucks with a lifetimes worth of documents.

“Save my identity, just to be safe,” said Pat Matusiewicz of Hatfield. “It's a paper world and I just want to get rid of it all.”

In Wilbraham, another truck parked to help people shred their way to security, and these pro shred trucks are industrial strength. They can handle up to 10,000 pounds of paper in just one hour. You can even see your papers being shredded on the screen.

A scammer’s favorite targets are the elderly. Trying to con-you into giving up personal information on-line, over the phone, by mail or even in person. Best advice, don't do it.

Chris Geffin of Northwestern District Attorney’s Office said, “Shred, shred, shred is what I would say to you. I would also say get a credit report once a year. You can do that free with the three reporting agencies that are available to you.”

She's talking about Equifax, Experian, and Transunion; by law, every American is entitled to a free report once a year.

Check it for anything suspicious, and safeguard your identity.