BATON ROUGE, La. – Long lines of vehicles formed a caravan of caution in a community effort to curb identity theft and the misuse of sensitive personal data. La Capitol Federal Credit Union and business stakeholders joined to raise awareness and offer free document shredding and electronics recycling.
The Better Business Bureau of South Central Louisiana hosted its 18th annual Shred Fest Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Baton Rouge Police Department. The goal, keeping confidential materials out of the hands of criminals, was deemed a success as organizers report the event served 901 cars in a little over four hours.
The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank was also on site to accept food items and donations.
BBB President Carmen Million said her organization wants to make sure people learn how to protect themselves. “You have to be the first line of defense when we’re talking about identity theft,” she said. “You should know how to properly destroy your personal financial information. It takes a second for people to become a victim of identity theft, but it sometimes takes years to resolve the issue.”
La Capitol is on the front line of protecting its members from fraud, and they also work to remain rooted and involved in the communities they serve. “It’s important to be involved in community events such as the BBB Shred Fest and it’s an opportunity to help members securely dispose of personal identifiable information whether in paper form or electronic,” Mark Matthews, La Capitol Chief Operations Officer, said.
Fighting fraud and protecting credit union members is a year-round focus at La Capitol. “Fraud is prevalent and account takeover is an example of how criminals are able to use personal information to access accounts, and there are a number of ways we implement security measures to counter those threats,” Matthews said. “We’re excited to see a lot of the community out today, and we think it was a great event.”
For more information, visit the La Capitol Fraud Prevention Center at https://www.lacapfcu.org/fraud-prevention-center.