U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor is hosting a consumer protection and fraud protection workshop Wednesday from 10 a.m. until noon.
While the event falls on April Fools Day, it’s no laughing matter.
According to a Federal Trade Commission report, Florida has the highest per capita rate of reported fraud in the nation.
The workshop will address ways for consumers to protect themselves from being victims of fraud.
“These days, there are many more faces of fraud and scams can go viral rapidly. Victims can be left in the dust – financially and emotionally drained if they don’t quickly recognize and report fraud activity,” Castor wrote in an email.
Fraud and identity theft can happen on numerous levels. It can be as simple as a fraudulent charge on a credit card to working under someone else’s Social Security number to assuming the identity of a deceased person.
As I noted in a blog earlier this year, identity theft, even on the most basic level, can be a hassle at minimum. There are numerous steps that must be taken to ensure your identity, finances and credit are kept safe.
I was the victim of identity theft after someone fraudulently filed an unemployment claim in my name. I was lucky. My experience was solved by a day’s worth of phone calls and a couple of canceled credit cards, but many lose thousands of dollars or have their credit scores ruined before noticing a problem.
Castor gathered experts from the Federal Trade Commission, the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency, the Tampa Police Department, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the AARP to help teach constituents how to protect themselves and what to do if they are the victim of identity theft.
The workshop is at the Barksdale Senior Center at 1801 North Lincoln Avenue in Tampa. Castor is asking constituents to bring family and friends to the workshop to ensure more people are protected from a growing fraud trend.
