Saint Paul, Minnesota – April 10, 2012 – The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) and AARP North Dakota are sponsoring “Secure Your ID” Day events Saturday, April 21 in the Fargo-Moorhead and Bismarck-Mandan communities. Area residents and businesses are invited to shred and properly dispose of their sensitive paper documents, CDs and old cell phones – for free. Tips and resources on how to avoid identity theft will also be provided. The Fargo event will be held at the Wells Fargo branch on 13th Ave. S. The Bismarck event will be held at the Wells Fargo Gateway Mall location at 1050 E. Interstate Ave. The times for both events are from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The dual events are part of a series of Secure Your ID Day events being hosted by Better Business Bureaus all across the country. The BBB and AARP ND, along with local partners The Bismarck Tribune, The Forum, Recall and Wells Fargo are working together to educate consumers about identity theft, which has been the top consumer complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the past twelve years in a row, with nearly 280,000 cases of identity theft reported to the FTC in 2011.
“We’re pleased to help provide this valuable service to the public,” said Dana Badgerow, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota. “We’re also gratified by the fact that attendance at our Secure Your ID events in North Dakota continues to grow.”
People are invited to bring up to three boxes or bags of documents to be shredded. Documents to be shredded should be removed from binders, but staples, paper clips and CDs are okay as is. Event staff will also be collecting cell phones which are no longer in use.
BBB Secure Your ID Day Details
Who: The BBB and AARP North Dakota, along with local partners The Bismarck Tribune, The Forum, Recall and Wells Fargo.
What: Free document shredding, cell phone collection and tips and resources for protecting your identity.
When: Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo parking lot, 1050 E. Interstate Ave., Bismarck and 2501 13th Avenue South, Fargo.
For more information on Secure Your ID Day and identity theft prevention measures for both consumers and businesses, visit: http://www.bbb.org/us/secure-your-id/.
Contact: BBB of MN/ND -- Dan Hendrickson, Communications Coordinator, 651-695-2463 / dhendrickson@thefirstbbb.org
Contact: AARP ND -- Lyle Halvorson, Communications, 701-355-3653 / LHalvorson@aarp.org
About the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota
The mission of the Better Business Bureau is to be the leader in building marketplace trust by promoting, through self-regulation, the highest standards of business ethics and conduct, and to instill confidence in responsible businesses through programs of education and action that inform, assist and protect the general public. Our hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Contact the BBB at bbb.org or 651-699-1111, toll-free at 1-800-646-6222. Visit our Centennial site at bbbis100.org.
About AARP North Dakota
With 85,000 members in North Dakota, AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.1 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
