April 17, 2008

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Contact
Sean Fredricks, V.P. Sales
Code Shred Ltd. • sean@codeshred.com
866-99-SHRED • 516-431-5484

City-Wide "Shred Fest" Encourages Identity Theft Awareness,
Secure Document Destruction Solution

New York City – Manhattan-based Code Shred, a document destruction company serving New York, Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut, joins three of their


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colleague companies to fight identity theft with Shred Fest NYC from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 27.

The first-of-its kind event, sponsored by the Office of the Mayor, is the largest shredding event ever in the city. Its purpose is to bring public attention to the importance of destroying old documents containing sensitive personal, business and financial information before identity thieves can get their hands on it.

Nine million Americans have recently become victims of identity theft, and more than half of those had no idea how it happened. Most likely, unauthorized people got hold of discarded mail or other sensitive documents from the trash or other unsecured areas.

Mayor Bloomberg, along with the New York Department of Consumer Affairs, the Office of Criminal Justice, the Department of Sanitation and the Parks & Recreation Department want to help New Yorkers prevent such crime by promoting timely, secure document destruction. They are sponsoring Shred Fest, an all-day shredding event, in which Code Shred and its peers will provide free paper shredding to city residents who bring boxes or bags of documents to several convenient locations throughout the 5 boroughs.

New Yorkers are encouraged to bring their most vulnerable documents for destruction, which include: bank statements at least one year old that don't contain tax-related information; pay stubs (only after related W-2 Forms have been received); credit card applications; and any other documents that contain Social Security Numbers, account numbers, password/PIN information, birth dates, private contact information, and signatures.

Code Shred mobile units will be at the following Shred Fest locations: Lehman College and Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, Highland Park in Brooklyn, Battery Park City in Manhattan, and Queens County Civil Court.

Code Shred invites all participants to visit with "Pasta," a five-month-old English bulldog puppy who is the company's official mascot. The bulldog is so named for its courage in controlling temperamental bulls, and though it is gentle and affectionate with children, will not hesitate in guarding against intruders. These qualities make Pasta the ideal mascot for a company dedicated to warding off those who would assume someone
else's identity for their own illegal activities.


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Code Shred will also be handing out entry forms for an essay contest to promote the importance of protecting against identity theft, for participating elementary school-age children. Essays will be judged by document security professionals, and the winning entry will be posted on the Code Shred website and released to the New York media.

The child whose essay wins the contest will have the chance to be photographed with Pasta, and along with his or her family, will be given a tour of the public part of the Code Shred facility and its mobile shredding trucks to learn how large volumes of paper are securely destroyed and recycled.

Staples will be donating 50 paper shredders to be given away to participants in the event.

Identity theft prevention information materials will be available at Shred Fest NYC

locations, as well as on www.nyc.gov/consumers or dial 311.

For more information about Code Shred, visit http://www.codeshred.com or call Sean Fredricks at 866-99-SHRED. For more information about Shred Fest NYC, visit http://newyorkcity.us/html/dca/html/news/shred_fest_nyc.html.

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