For a donation to Crime Stoppers of Halton, area residents can safely dispose of financial documents and personal papers tohelp combat identity theft.

It is part of the semi-annual campaign that Crime Stoppers holds in conjunction with FileBank, a leading Canadian records and information management company, to make sure sensitive material can’t be used by criminals to commit numerous frauds, including identity theft.

Everyone is invited to bring any confidential records, including bank statements and old tax returns, to the main parking lot of the Halton Region Centre, 1151 Bronte Road in Oakville on Sunday, April 30 between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to “Feed the Beast” – FileBank’s state-of-the-art mobile shredding machine.

In previous years Halton Crime Stoppers has charged set fees to dispose of confidential documents at their shredding events, but this year they are asking only that people make a donation to assist the crime solving program.

Halton Crime Stoppers warns that Identify Theft continues to be the fastest growing crime and costs Canadians about $10 billion annually.

Detective Constable Jodi Richmond, police coordinator of Halton Crime Stoppers, said it’s important for people to protect themselves from becoming crime victims by ensuring any documents with personal information are properly destroyed.

Richmond said items such as cancelled cheques, financial records, old letterhead, invoices, copies of job applications or anything containing personal information can easily be used by criminals to obtain credit cards; steal money from bank accounts; procure passports or other identification and even get a mortgage on your home without you even knowing.

“Destroying confidential personal and business documents is the best way to protect yourself from become a victim of fraud,” she said.

Several years ago Halton Crime Stoppers recognized the nightmare victims go through while trying to restore their reputation and credit rating after their identity has been stolen and teamed up with FileBank to protect people and help reduce the opportunity for fraud to occur across the region.

Detective Constable Richmond also pointed out that FileBank’s process is eco-friendly since all sensitive documents pulverized through the mobile shredding equipment is recycled into new paper products.

In addition, all those bringing old financial records and other documents for shredding will receive a 500-sheet package of recycled paper courtesy of Domtar, one of Canada’s leading paper producers.

“It is a win-win situation for everyone,” Richmond said.

“We also want people to be aware of the consequences when personal papers fall into the hands of criminals. Losses can vary from several hundred dollars by someone forging a name on a cheque that was casually discarded to the millions of dollars through complex financial scams perpetrated by sophisticated criminal networks,” she said. “The range of fraud is limitless if nefarious groups get access to personal information. The best safeguard is to regularly destroy confidential and personal documents.”

Halton Crime Stoppers warns that it is particularly important during the tax season to ensure all personal information you have stored over the past few years is safely disposed of and urges people to utilize the shredding event with FileBank rather than placing sensitive material in garbage bins for roadside collection where it could easily be discovered by scam artists who routinely cruise neighborhoods looking for documents that can be used in fraud schemes.

The April 30 event at the Halton Region Centre is conveniently located for residents of Oakville, Milton and Georgetown and another shredding event will be held June 3 in Burlington.

It is also important for people to be aware that Crime Stoppers of Halton is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and all donations from the shredding event will be used to support the anonymous tip line and our promotional efforts across the region.

Crime Stoppers operates in cooperation with the police,the media and the community and offers rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest in any unsolved crime.

Tips can be provided anonymously through our website – www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca – by phone at 1-800-222-8477, or by texting “tip201”and your message to “CRIMES” (274637). Crime Stoppers does not record phone calls or subscribe to call display and has no way to determine your identity whether making contact online, through texting or by phone.

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Contact:
Detective Sergeant Jodi Richmond

Coordinator Halton Crime Stoppers

(905) 825-4747 Ext. 5118

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