World's Largest Community Shred® initiative held at Wal-Mart stores across the United States
Shred-it and Crime Stoppers USA helped American consumers fight identity theft by organizing the world's largest Community Shred
initiative during the month of April. Community Shreds were held at more than 200 stores across America on April 1, 8, 22 and 29.
Identity theft is the fastest growing form of consumer fraud in North America. According to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC)
Annual Report on Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft, consumers reported losses of more than $680 million from fraud in 2005 with
the majority of cases occurring from lost or stolen wallets and theft of paper or mail. The FTC estimates that the average individual
victim of identity theft spends 200 to 600 hours and $1,500 to restore their identity.
Shred-it, the world's leading document destruction company and Crime Stoppers USA member programs brought their expertise to
Wal-Mart stores to help Americans take action against the growing threat of identity theft and fraud. The magnitude of the event was a
first in the fight against identity theft.
"The best safeguard against personal identity theft is to regularly destroy confidential personal and business documents", says
Mike Skidmore, VP of Services & Operations, Shred-it. "We help our clients protect themselves and their customers every day by destroying
documents that are no longer needed. Organizing Community Shred events across America raises awareness about the dangers of
identity theft and fraud and encourages consumers and businesses to take the necessary steps to protect themselves from these crimes."
"Crime Stoppers USA is very excited to work together with Shred-it and Wal-Mart to promote community safety", adds National
President, Elaine Cloyd.
Shred-it mobile shredding trucks shredded personal documents free of charge at Wal-Mart locations across the country. Consumers
were invited to bring all the personal documents they could carry for shredding. Representatives from community Crime Stoppers
programs were also on site to offer consumers tips on how they can protect themselves against identity theft.
Shred-it, a Securit® Company, is the world's leading on site document destruction company with over 140 branches across five
continents. Shred-it trucks are equipped with custom-built shredders that can efficiently destroy everything from confidential paper
documents to CDs. Founded in 1988, Shred-it currently services over 150,000 global, national and local businesses and organizations
worldwide. Visit
www.shredit.com for more information.
Local community Crime Stoppers programs stretch across the nation and participate in a global network of programs worldwide that
take anonymous tips to solve crimes. With its founding roots in Albuquerque, New Mexico, thirty years ago, US Crime Stoppers' tips
have led to the arrest of approximately 400,000 criminals, the clearing of over 700,000 cases, including terrorist activity, and the
recovery of narcotics and property valued in excess of $4 billion dollars. If you have information on a crime, please consult your local
directory and contact your community Crime Stoppers program. All calls are anonymous, and programs do not use caller ID.
For more information about Crime Stoppers, visit
www.crimestoppersusa.com.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM'S CLUB locations in the United States.
The company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The company's securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock
exchanges under the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting
www.walmartfacts.com.
