TROY, Mich. (WXYZ) — People waited patiently in line outside the Troy Family Aquatic Center for the 13th annual Shred Day organized by Cornerstone Community Financial Credit Union.
"I'm moving soon, and I wanted to get rid of a lot of old papers," said Tom Kern.
"They have our bank statement numbers and the credit card numbers, and I've been coming for like 10 years," said Karla Olsen.
Kern and Olsen were among the many who always aim to make the most of the free event.
"Why is it important to shred these documents?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"So no one else can get their hands on them and steal people's identity," said Karla.
"Did you learn the hard way?" asked Faraz.
"I did not," said Karla.
The Credit Union's Emily Morss says protecting one's identity is part of financial literacy.
"I think people have a tendency to think that there's so much scamming or fraud going on like electronically like, either in emails or phone calls, but people are still out there doing it old school, like tearing up pieces of paper and then you get the bad guys out there that are trying to put them back together and steal your identity that way," said Emily.
"How common is that?" asked Faraz.
"I mean, you know, fraud is becoming more and more common, unfortunately, so we want to teach our members and the community, you know, how to be diligent and make sure that they're not going to fall prey to that, that type of scam," said Emily.
Emily says she hears about identity theft-related fraud every week.
"What kind of information do you recommend should be shredded?" asked Faraz.
"Like bank statements, credit card statements, old tax forms that you may not need anymore, pretty much anything with your name, Social Security number, or any work history," said Emily.
"What about addresses on like boxes?" asked Faraz.
"That's important too; just peel off the shipping label or redact it," said Emily.
But Sandra Anthony also has another reason to shred.
"I just enjoyed, you know, being able to not put this stuff in the landfill. Because the landfill has gotten so high that I wanted some land to be left for my great-grandchildren," said Sandra.
Adam Prisciandaro is another who brought three boxes filled with confidential documents.
"I've had friends that have had real issues before and identities taken and all of that stuff, so," said Adam.
"So what do you do outside of Shred Day?" asked Faraz.
"I mean, this stuff sits in a box until the next one," said Adam.
Meanwhile, there are several shred events across Metro Detroit throughout the year, and you can also take your documents to a place to get them shredded; of course, you can also buy a shredder for home use.
And once he's done shredding, Tom says: "I'm a happy camper for sure,"
So, the moral of the story is that when it comes to safely discarding confidential documents:
"Always shred it," said Tom.
