Arming the Community - June 30th Fraud College Conference in Utah focused on Fighting Fraud through Awareness & Education of the Community
Press Release No. 10/103May 20, 2010
Don't become a victim - Spend the day learning ways to better protect yourself and the ones you love from fraudsters, schemes and scams taking place across the community. Hear expert speakers and panelists from around the country come together to teach anti-fraud awareness and protection at no cost to you.
The State of Utah, in close coordination with Utah Valley University community leaders and financial services organizations, have organized a "must-attend" conference on fraud prevention and awareness for the people. The conference will take place on the Utah Valley University Campus June 30th, 2010, with participants from the FBI, SEC, Financial and Legal organizations, academia, and the religious communities. Local and nationally known speakers will present on critical topics such as: Understanding the mind of the Scammer/Victim, Common Fraud "Markers", How to say No when everyone around me is saying yes!. Featured speakers include Carolyn Jessop, the nationally known author of Escape as well as a follow-up book entitled Triumph. Carolyn is a former member of a fundamentalist polygamist group who wrote an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that group. She will be speaking about how to say no in pressure situations.
The conference will also feature an interfaith panel comprised of leaders and representatives from many religions across communities. Key topics to be discussed by the panel center on affinity fraud (trust-based deception) and protecting your family finances from fraud.
"Sound education and increased awareness are the key to preventing Utahns from becoming victims of fraud," said Governor Gary R. Herbert, State of Utah. "As part of this new Nationwide Fraud Watch, the State of Utah is taking a proactive approach to protecting our friends, neighbors and family members."
A major focus of the conference will be to increase public awareness of the various categories and strains of fraud being perpetrated today. Speakers will confront the importance of equipping attendees with critical updates on fraud behavior, schemes and cases to ensure they will be well-prepared to recognize fraud. The Conference will cover interviews of ex-cons telling their stories of how they "size-up" a victim. Also Professional Psychiatrists will give attendees a glimpse into the mind of a fraudster running a scam.
The concept of a "Fraud College" Conference came from came from a September 2009 Bloomberg News article where the SEC announced it "may" send some its staff off to "Fraud College" so they wouldn't miss so many massive frauds like the Madoff case which alone accounts for multi-billions of dollars in losses. Although the SEC is striving to do as much as they can to be watchdogs over fraud, the American investor needs to take more personal responsibility for detecting fraud in the community. A small band of investor advocates (including former SEC staff, leaders in business and the community) has put together "Fraud College" for the people, a one-day anti-fraud conference/school that is free to the public and is the first step towards helping American investors develop their own "fraud sense."
"In this era of deceptive investment schemes and fraudulent business relationships, Fraud College promises to help the community speak with one voice to support and educate the public at large. In particular, the Conference will enforce the need to continually be vigilant about ways to protect and educate citizens across the state of Utah." Said, Brent Baker, Legal Services Partner at Parsons Behle & Latimer and one of the board members of Fraud College.
This valuable service has been made possible by generous sponsorship from the State of Utah, Utah State Bar Securities Division and the Utah Securities Association - a non-profit organization, the First Annual Fraud College will be established in Utah on June 30th, 2010.
