By Daily Press staff
Tired of being scammed? Assemblymember Fran Pavley will be joined by the California Contractors State License Board and the city of Santa Monica Attorney’s Office at an event aimed at educating the public about what they can do to prevent consumer fraud, theft and senior citizen scams. The collaboration of local, state and federal experts will shed light on disturbing trends such as home improvement scams, identity theft, investment fraud, insurance information and scams, senior scams, consumer fraud litigation and landlord/tenant issues.
“Teaching consumers how to protect themselves from these predators should be a priority for government and law enforcement,” Pavley said. “Understanding these trends could save consumers millions of dollars.”
The event will be held on March 17 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 Fourth St.
The Federal Trade Commission received 650,000 fraud and identity theft complaints in 2004. Approximately a quarter of those complaints —145,895 — were from consumers age 50 and over, the FTC reported. FTC’s Bureau of consumer protection reports that consumers 50 years old and over reported $152 million in fraud losses to their agency.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 6, 2006. Read the original PDF.