Free document shredding event to assist in scam prevention

(ABC 6 News) – In recent weeks, more and more people have fallen victim to serious scams, sometimes resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars.

In Albert Lea Saturday morning, people had the opportunity to protect themselves and their finances from scammers.

The Albert Lea Police Dep. teamed up with Arcadian Bank for a free event, where people could show up and shred any documents that include banking information.

It is part of a two-day program to teach people tips on how to avoid scams. They also taught the community the most common ways people are tricked into giving up their banking information, and police officers were on hand to answer any questions.

“We are seeing a ramp of fraud across the entire country especially locally,” said Brandon Brackey, an information security officer with Arcadian Bank. “Internet fraud, phone scams, elderly abuse, those kinds of things, so anything we can do to educate the community, as well as protect our citizens, is really valuable.”

All of the documents are securely stashed and will be shredded on Monday.