Protecting Your Privacy: How to spot and avoid identity theft

LAFAYETTE, La. ( )– Scammers are after one thing when stealing your identity: your money.

Better Business Bureau Serving Acadiana CEO Chris Babin said thieves steal your money or your identity to steal your money later.

"A lot of times they're doing all this for money," Babin said. "Every time it's for money."

To spot identity theft, check your bank statements and credit reports regularly.

Home Bank Senior Vice President Chris Gondran advises you to switch to electronic statements to always have access to your bank charges because paper statements come every 30 days.

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"First and foremost, they'll be able to detect fraud a lot faster, and they can take action on it that way," Gondran said. "It can prevent additional fraud from happening on your account."

Thieves will stop at nothing to get their hands on your paper bank statements.

"We've known about bad actors actually doing dumpster diving looking for personal information to commit identity theft and fraud," Gondran said.

To protect your banking privacy, don't throw away bank statements. Shred them. Use unique passwords and two-factor authentication for online accounts. Don't convert money into gift cards for payment. Scammers often ask you to send money through gift cards to remove your ability to track your money.

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"It's pretty much risk-free for them," Gondran said. "What they'll do is, they may recommend they go to like a Wal-Mart or something and buy a Google Play gift card, scratch the back and send them that number. From there, the hacker can redeem that gift card with that number. So, the hacker doesn't have to go anywhere. There's no physical money that changes hands."

Shred all physical documents that have your personal identifiable information to avoid them getting into the wrong hands.

You can shred these documents at the Better Business Bureau's "Shred Day" this Saturday at the Acadiana Mall from 8 a.m. until noon.