CLARION, Pa. – Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion/Armstrong/Forest) will host an upcoming event designed to educate consumers about the ongoing threat of identity theft and to offer a way to protect themselves.

The Identity Theft and Shredder Event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 8-10 a.m., in the parking lot of Oberlander’s district office at 160 South Second St. in Clarion.

“Identity theft continues to be a fast-growing crime, and with recent news reports about the Equifax data breach, I want residents to have the latest information about how they can protect their good name,” Oberlander said. “In addition to a wealth of information available about ways to protect financial and personal information, we will also have an industrial shredding truck from Iron Mountain, a data protection service, available on site so that people can bring documents containing the sensitive information.”

Documents that are encouraged to be shredded include those with credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, medical information and bank account information.

Residents are asked to bring just papers and documents in loose form. Magazines and books will not be accepted.

In the meantime, consumers are urged to be proactive in monitoring their credit reports and financial account statements, such as credit cards and utilities, and in reporting any suspicious activity to the attorney general office’s hotline at 1-800-441-2555 or atscams@attorneygeneral.gov.

The Federal Trade Commission has also provided www.identitytheft.gov, an identity theft prevention website.

More information about the event is available on Oberlander’s website at www.RepOberlander.com.