All-Shred was featured in an article about Identity Theft in the August 4, 2010 Edition of the Moscow Villager.

The text of the article is as follows:

Identity theft

Local business specializes in document destruction – By Ryan O’Malley : Villager Editor

In the U.S., identity theft is becoming one of the world’s fastest growing crimes. There is a national statistic stating that nine out of ever 10 people have been a victim of some form of identity theft, in one way or another.

Whether an individual has been directly affected by identity theft, or they happen to know someone that has been a victim of identity theft, it is becoming more and more prevalent due to the fact that personal information is so easily accessible. That is where All-Shred steps in.

All-Shred is a local business dedicated to total document and product destruction. Owned by Moscow residents Larry and Don Hartpence, All-Shred has been in business since 2001 and is a division of their parent company Hydro Clean Inc., which was incorporated in 1976.

The idea for All-Shred was erected by one of their nine employees, Joan Foytack, when she was looking through a Northeast business journal that highlighted a company in the document destruction business. She said, “We thought it was something to look into since the future, at that time, seemed to be pointing in that direction.”

All-Shred provides total document destruction of paper, cardboard, hard drives, cell phones, medicine bottles, x-rays, microfiche, tapes, cassettes, video tapes and prison uniforms; basically an item that deals with security.

They also offer on site, off site, and delivery to their facility—1691 Madisonville Rd. in Moscow—while servicing residential, commercial and industrial properties. With a fleet of 16 trucks, All-Shred can provide the right truck and equipment in order to complete the service that is needed.

Processed paper and cardboard are bailed and hipped to paper mills for recycling once they are destroyed. Other paper and cardboard are processed into animal bedding. The ground metal pieces from the destruction of hard drives, cell phones, etc, are taken to a smelter to be melted down and recycled. For security reasons, no third party recycling centers are used…All-Shred is their own recycling facility.

Too often individuals are willing to give out such personal and vital information as credit card and social security numbers, which are the two main things that identity thieves are looking for. One good thing is that credit card companies are becoming more aware of detecting fraud by paying very close attention to card use.

Larry said, “In regards to identity theft, I believe a lot of it is economy driven. It’s easy money, and the computer have made it that much easier. Plus, it takes forever to catch up to them (the thief) so once they get started it could continue for months before they get caught.”

The one item that most people tend to overlook is junk mail. Junk mail usually contains information pertinent to a specific individual. Junk mail should not be discarded in the garbage but rather destroyed.

While home shredders are a great item to own, the documents are usually relatively easy for criminals to piece back together because it uses a strip cut, and home owners primarily shred only one sheet at a time. Most times the shredded documents are bagged and placed in a garbage. Instead, those documents should be bailed and recycled.

All-Shred uses a cross-cut shred, processing multiple sheets at a time, after which it’s grinded into confetti making it absolutely impossible to piece back together.

They are a full time business that is insured, bonded and a member of the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID). Another key component is the fact that All-Shred does not sub contract out.

Open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, All-Shred covers New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Over the years they have bought out five different companies, and most recently they have expanded to Pottsvile, saturating that area as well as Minersville and Hazelton.

All-Shred is also involved with raising community awareness. It was announced that the NP Rotary will have their second Identity Theft Night in September, due to the success and response of the community to last year’s event.

They are also available for community shreds, which means a group will sponsor the event allowing residents of the at community to bring their documents to a central location for shredding. In addition, they participate in appreciation shreds, in which a business owner sponsors a shred for their employees and/or customers.

For most people, they are aware of the issue of identity theft, but they don’t think it will happen to them. A lot of people believe it only happens in the big cities. This is not true. Identity theft can occur anywhere, but luckily All-shred is hear to help. For more info call them at 842-6464.

For additional views of the article, click on the Links Below:

• Identity Theft, Page 1 (Image)
• Identity Theft, Page 2 (Image)
• Identity Theft (Full Article, Text only)