BBB The Center for Fraud Prevention Breakfast

The BBB Center for Fraud Prevention works with consumers and businesses to prevent fraudulent scams through education and outreach. To this end four panelists came together to discuss their perspective on fraud.

The first panelist to speak was Jan Michael Zavislan, who is the Colorado deputy Attorney General for Consumer Protection. Jan spoke about the trends his office is seeing and how consumers can protect themselves from fraud.

The second speaker was Melissa Theriault, the Wyoming Special Assistant Attorney. She specializes in identity theft and talked about the difficulties of working in the spread out spaces of Wyoming.

The third speaker was Joseph McCarthy, who is the Senior Vice President and Regional Director of the Western Region of FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He recounted an attempted fraud perpetrated on his son, making the example that anyone can be a target.

The final speaker was Brenda Linnington, who is the director of BBB Military Line, which is a national program for service members and their families which provides consumer education and support. Military families provide a particular target for those looking to commit consumer fraud and are often targeted.

The panel discussion was well received by the audience of both business leaders and police officials. Audience members were able to converse while breakfast was served. Sponsors Shelley Bernhardt of Western Union and Mark Driscoll of First National Bank talked about their corporate experiences with fraud.

For more information about BBB programs, visit www.wynco.bbb.org.