Replies to post #1567 on Media Happenings

[patchman]

Arming the Community in the Fight Against Fraud – June 30th Fraud College Conference in Utah focused on Fighting Fraud through Community Awareness & Education

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.
Press Release No. 10/103

May 12, 2010

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 of Utah and surround states. 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 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 aand her recenltly published follow-up book entitled Triumph. Carolyn is a former member of a fundamentalist polygamist group who wrote an autobiographical account of her upbringing and her later flight from that group. She will be speaking about how to say no in high 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 awareness will be the secret to protecting the members of our community from Fraud. We are anxious to be a part of this new Nationwide Fraud Watch”, said Governor Gary R. Herbert, State of Utah. “We can’t just sit back and watch our friends, neighbors and family members become prey to the fraudsters and scammers that infest our community...”

A major focus of the conference will be to increase public awareness of the various types 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. In addition, a 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 and Stanford cases which alone account for over a half of a trillion 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 be its own first line of defense in the fight against fraud. 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, Partner in the Securities Practice Group 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. For more information, visit the http://www.FraudCollege.org official website or contact Fraud College using the following information:

Contacts:
Mike Deaver – Media Relations
Email: [e-mail]
Or Fraud College Public Affairs: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone]