Better Business Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina (bbb.org) announces today its semi-annual “Secure Your ID” Day, will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2011. Free document shredding will be offered from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Coastal Federal Credit Union, located off Wake Forest Road at 1000 St. Albans Drive, Raleigh, NC 27609.

Identity theft remains a major problem in America. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, more than 250,000 complaints were received in 2010 regarding ID theft. This is nearly 20 percent of all complaints received by the agency. A 2011 Javelin Strategy and Research survey also points out that 8.1 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2010. The average out-of-pocket expense was $631 per incident and consumers spent an average of 59 hours recovering from ID theft.

“Identity theft isn’t going away anytime soon,” says Toby Barfield, president and CEO of BBB serving Eastern North Carolina. “We continue to host our events in hopes of educating Triangle residents on the severity of this issue while also offering them a safe way to dispose of documents containing sensitive information.”

“Secure Your ID” Day is jointly organized by the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling to raise public awareness and educate Americans on the issues surrounding identity theft. During the event, local shredding partners will provide free, on-site document shredding. Individuals are encouraged to bring up to three boxes or bags of documents that have been removed from binders. BBB and other partner organizations will offer tips and resources to protect your identity. During the spring 2011 event, 415 participants shredded nearly 11 tons of documents. Additional event information is available at www.easternnc.bbb.org/secure-your-id.