On Friday, May 4, your Better Business Bureau® Foundation partnered with Gilmore Services, WEAR-TV, and CatCountry 98.7 Radio to hold a record-setting free shredding event at two locations in northwest Florida – Pensacola and Mary Esther.
In Pensacola 1,615 people brought 50,000 pounds of sensitive documents to be responsibly destroyed by Gilmore Services and received information about protecting themselves from identity thieves. In Mary Esther, another 607 people brought 15,000 pounds of documents to be shredded. The previous record, set at the October 2011 shredding event saw a total 1,895 people bring 50,000 pounds of documents to be destroyed.
“This event just gets bigger and bigger,” said Jacob Gilmore, Vice President of Purchasing and Finance at Gilmore Services. “It just shows that people are taking the risk of identity theft seriously and it shows why it’s so important that we continue to offer this event to help reduce the chances of fraud.”
“I am disappointed to see that Florida had the most incidents of identity theft cases reported per capita for the third year in a row,” said Norman Wright, president and CEO of your BBB. “Prevention is critical so it’s important that we educate our community about identity theft and give them the opportunity to effectively get rid of sensitive documents.”
For additional information and advice you can trust on protecting yourself against identity theft, start with bbb.org.
