Check Out This Easy Way To Keep Your Personal Information Safe

Lafayette, LA (KPEL News) It seems like we don't go a single day without another report of a data breach or someone having their identity stolen. While in many cases there isn't much you could have done to keep your information completely safe, there are still things that you can do to protect yourself.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is one resource you can use to help. The BBB says that protecting your identity is largely in your own hands. They add that identity theft can happen to anyone; many identity theft victims can trace the theft to something that was stolen from their own possession, but you can reduce your chances of becoming the next victim.

Read More: Lafayette Police Searching For Woman Who Stole $7K Using Identity 

Read More: Louisiana Residents Offered Safety Tips to Prevent Vehicle Theft 

The BBB has some recommendations for how to treat your personal information. They say it should be treated like the valuable commodity it is. You can easily protect your identity by shredding documents containing sensitive information such as:

• personal documents
• old tax records
• bank statements
• junk mail with personal information, or
• anything with social security or insurance numbers.

If you don't have a way to shred your documents, the BBB has you covered. The 2024 BBB Community Shred Day is being held Saturday, September 21, at the Acadiana Mall, 5725 Johnston Street Lafayette, LA, from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Community Shred Day is a completely free, safe and easy drive-thru event open to residents of the following parishes:

• Acadia
• Evangeline
• Iberia
• Lafayette
• St. Landry
• St. Martin
• Vermilion

Volunteers will be on hand to unload your boxes of sensitive documents to be commercially shredded on-site.

Paper must be dry and free of mold and mildew; spiral-bound documents will not be accepted. Volume is limited to two (2) copy-paper boxes (or the approximate equivalent).

Additionally, in support of Catholic Charities of Acadiana’s FoodNet Food Bank, on the day of the event, the BBB will be collecting canned goods and non-perishable food items. Please consider donating as your drive-thru on Saturday, Sept. 21st to help those in need in our community. Every donation makes a difference!

More information can be found at: https://www.bbb.org/local/1045/2024-bbb-community-shred-day.

ABOUT BBB: The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands and charities they can trust for over 110 years. In 2022, people turned to BBB more than 250 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on about 12,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. Local, independent BBBs can be found across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including BBB Serving Acadiana, which was founded in 1975 and serves Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes.