City of Palm Bay News Release

Crime Seminar Focuses on Fraud, theft prevention

Posted: 11/20/07

The Palm Bay Police Department will host a crime prevention seminar focusing on fraud, scams and identity theft as part of the agency’s ongoing community education series.  The seminar will be held on Saturday, December 8, 2007 from 10 a.m. until noon at the Palm Bay Senior Center located at 1275 Culver Drive.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans and Canadians lose over forty billion dollars each year to scam artists.  Each year illegal telemarketing and mail fraud schemes rob consumers, often elderly citizens of their life savings.  These scams arrive in the mail, through the internet, by telephone or by direct person contact.

As part of the seminar, Palm Bay Police detectives will share valuable information about the latest scams, how scam artists target their victims and carry out their schemes and will offer insightful prevention tips.  Chief Bill Berger makes a special presentation about identity theft and shares his story of how he became a victim.  “It can happen to anyone,” Berger said.  “You must always be paying attention and taking precautions to keep from becoming a victim.”  Berger has made his presentation around the country, most recently to a class at the FBI National Academy.  He is part of the Bank of America Identity Theft Task Force and is a recognized expert on the subject.

If someone contacts you or a loved one with an unsolicited offer, don’t give your financial information to people you don’t know.  Attention needs to be given to everything from handling the mail to taking out the trash.  “These types of crimes can have a significant impact on their victims,” said Major John Blackledge who leads the Criminal Investigations Division of the Palm Bay Police Department.  “In many cases the victims are incapable of recovering the financial losses.”

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