Washington credit union declares April Identity Theft Awareness month

Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU), Washington's largest financial institution, will be offering residents free identity theft tips throughout the month of April for Identity Theft Awareness month. BECU will host a shredding and electronics recycling event on April 16 at three of its Puget Sound locations. It is recommended that residents bring up to three grocery bags or banker's boxes of sensitive information they want to be shredded. Unwanted computers, laptop, monitors and cell phones will also be accepted. "It takes a huge amount of time and hassle to untangle identity theft, and we want to arm our members with the best information and resources to protect themselves," said Ken Kinloch, information protection officer at BECU. "That's why we are hosting paper shredding and computer recycling events." According to a recent Javelin Strategy and Research study, total identity theft losses were estimated at $37 billion in 2010, notes the institute's website. Additionally, the study found that 18-to-24 year-olds are the slowest to detect fraud, averaging nearly twice as many days to become aware of the breach compared to other age groups. However, they are also the group that is most likely to take protective action, such as installing anti-malware software once they discover the problem.