AARP New Mexico to Host Santa Fe Shredding Event
AARP New Mexico will once again offer free fall document shredding in Santa Fe, Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Santa Fe Place Mall.
“With the holidays fast approaching, a lot of people are cleaning out their spaces getting ready for company, and it might be tempting for people to throw sensitive documents away, but that can have unintended consequences with personal information falling into the wrong hands,” said Gary Williams, AARP New Mexico Associate State Director for Community Outreach.
“We are really excited to bring this event back this fall for both our members and the public. We know that shredding your documents safely and securely can be time consuming and expensive, so we are glad to offer people an easy and safe way to do so,” Williams said.
AARP uses a secure shredding service to shred documents right on site so there is no concerns about what happens to those documents when you drop them off.
The event is free and open to the public but there are limitations on how much material can be shredded. Each household is limited to two banker-type document boxes, or 50 pounds of material. Shredding will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on the dot, unless the trucks reach capacity prior to that time.
In 2002, New Mexicans lost $38.2 million to fraud, losing on average $700 per incident. The top scam people fell victim to is what is known as imposter scams. One in five fraud reports to the Federal Trade Commission from New Mexico involved a criminal impersonating a trusted source such as the Social Security Administration, the IRS, law enforcement, a utility company or a retailer.
The next highest form of fraud was identity theft. New Mexico ranks 33rd in identity theft incidents in the country with credit card fraud being the leading type of identity theft that occurred.
To help combat fraud, tips include:
- Be suspicious of anyone who contacts you unsolicited.
- Never share personal information over the telephone or by email if you have not initiated the contact.
- Anytime someone you haven’t met in person asks you to send them money, often in a form of a pre-paid gift cards or cryptocurrency, it’s a scam.
For more information or to get help if you have become a victim of fraud, contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 1-877-908-3360.
For more information of questions about the shredding events, please call Gary at 505-946-3601.
