Having your identity stolen can cause some major problems and be a big headache. More than 10 million Americans are victims of the crime.

There are ways to cut your chances of becoming a victim. One is to make sure to get rid of all personal documents.

It's taken Mary Zamiska six years to find a place to shred those documents.

“We did try to find a local place to do it but they all wanted a lot of money so it's just been sitting there,” Zamiska said.

She came out to free shred day in Aiken. It's not really a holiday but the event did give some residents the gift of protection.

“Shred360 is offering shredding to the community of Aiken to protect their identity,” John Anderson of Shred360 said.

Along with Security Federal Bank, the shredding company destroyed documents by the trunk full. Papers people felt were too dangerous to just throw away.

“I have to shred them so I don't become a victim of identity theft. If I just put them in the trash somebody might get a hold of them,” Jerry Downs of Aiken County said.

“Shredding is becoming a necessity because identity theft protection is huge; children, adults, seniors. They're being targeted for their identities,” Anderson said.

Experts say you should always shred identification, papers containing your social security number and license number, and health and medical records.

But free shred day did not just protect people from identity theft, it also saved time.

“I have 2 shredders at my house but they're low capacity,” Downs said.

“It takes a long time with your personal shredder. Here you can shred a lot and be done with it,” Dorothy Baker of Aiken County said.

No matter how you go about shredding your personal documents experts say make sure it gets done to protect yourself and your identity.

A Free Shred Day was also held in Evans Saturday. For future shred days call (803) 233-1823.