Free Document Destruction Leaves Watchdog Nation Founder Happy

Watchdog Nation is all about protecting yourself for free and in just seconds.

That’s how I try to operate my life — free and fast. And I bet you do, too.

Sometimes, though, that can clutter things up.

Do you shred your documents that contain your personal information before throwing them away? I’ve bought three different shredders from office supply stores — and returned them all. They stink.

Instead, I’ve been waiting for a free, local shredding service to take my receipts, bank statements and paper bills and ground them into pulp. Unfortunately, it can cost a homeowner around $100 for such a service to come to your door or for you to bring it to them.

That’s not Watchdog Nation’s way. We want it done free and in just seconds.

My last big shredding was in June 2007 in Addison, Texas. I remember because I attended an anti-fraud conference that day. Free shredding was one of the lures.

In the past three years, I accumulated more than a hundred pounds of paper. I had boxes stacked in the attic marked “To Be Shredded.” Trash bags were piled high in a spare bedroom.

Then yesterday, they all vanished.

I’ve kept searching the Internet and asking about free shredding. Then I heard about Legend Bank in Fort Worth, Texas that was staging a “Free Shred Day.” I’m not a customer, but the event was open to everybody. I told a lot of my friends and many of them showed up, too.

Legend Bank is getting a reputation for offering checking that pays 4 percent in monthly interest if certain conditions are followed. The shred day was a great way to get people to visit the bank.

Mike Monroe, executive vice president and regional president, also passed along shredding guidelines to his customers — a story by Steven Hastert at www.shrednations.com. You can read it here.

Watchdog Nation hopes you are shredding your documents for free and in seconds. No need to wait three years as I did.



Mike Monroe of Legend Bank (left), Dave Lieber (center) and Michael Morris of instantshredding.com -- and the star of the show, all the stuff of Dave's about to get destroyed.



No need for me to repeat the latest identity theft stats here. You know the drill. Suffice it to say that I have written stories in my newspaper about dumpster divers who pull the unshredded stuff out and resell it to drug rings that also engage in identity theft. That’s incentive enough for me to do it right.



Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong

Three years of Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber's personal documents waiting to be shredded. Almost filled up a large trash cart.



We advise you to search the Internet regularly for “free shredding” and the name of your community. These events are almost always held on Saturdays. Often, the sponsors are private businesses, law enforcement authorities and neighborhood associations. You can even call your local shredding companies (easy to find on the Internet) and ask if they are scheduled to offer a free service with any community sponsors in the coming months.

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Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber

Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.