Millions of Americans fall victim to identity theft every year. But to keep the cycle from continuing, Michiana Crime Stoppers are stepping in to help.

They’re hosting their annual “Shredding Identity Theft’ event on Saturday. Anyone can goand shred their unwanted personal or business documents before a criminal gets their hands on it. They partner up with Integra Certified Document Destruction every year to shred the papers.

A study shows that identity theft cost Americans $24.7 billion in 2012.

“It can happen to anyone it knows no demographics everyone’s at risk,” said Kayla Miller, Coordinator of Michiana Crime Stoppers.

“You just really want to be cautious and we really want to make sure people are safe and they know about it and they can take those extra steps to protect themselves,” Miller said.

Every year, there are several cases reported that criminals have stolen personal documents during a burglary or removing them from a mailbox.

If you pay a $10 donation to Crime Stoppers, your papers will be destroyed on site. The event has been very successful for eight years in Michiana.

“This is a very great way for us to give back to the community and the community to give back to us,” Miller said. “People look forward to it every year. They call and want to know when we will be doing it again so we hope to continue doing it,” Miller said.

You can start shredding at 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. Saturday at Martin’s Supermarket in Granger’s Heritage Square.