Apr 8, 2012 2 min read

PITTSBURGH — Better Business Bureau (BBB) and its partners, the Borough of Pleasant Hills, The Paper Exchange and First Commonwealth Bank, invite the Pittsburgh area and surrounding communities to BBB’s “Secure Your ID” Day Saturday at the Pleasant Hills Municipal Building, 410 East Bruceton Road in Pittsburgh from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Residents and small businesses are encouraged to attend the event and take a key step in identity protection by shredding and properly disposing of their sensitive documents. BBB staff will be on-site to provide expert advice and tips for identity theft protection.

“Shredding sensitive paper documents is an important step, but it doesn’t end there,” said Warren King, president of the BBB. “That’s why BBB experts will also be distributing important advice and simple steps everyone can take to prevent ID theft in their daily lives, both online and off.”

According to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research, identity fraud increased to 4.90 percent in 2011 from 4.35 percent in 2010. This represents a 12.6 percent increase. The total number of identity fraud victims also increased to about 11.6 million U.S. adults in 2011, compared to 10.2 million victims in 2010.

“This is largely a crime of access,” added King. “Our goal here is to make the information less accessible and empower people to be their own first line of defense against identity theft. With community-based BBBs across North America collaborating, we’ll have a tremendous coast-to-coast presence that will reach a lot of people and hopefully, prevent a lot of theft.”

Bring up to three boxes or bags of documents to be shredded and take home the tips and resources you need to help protect yourself. Documents to be shredded should be removed from binders. For more information, go online to www.bbb.org or call 412-456-2700.