Palmdale to host seminars for National Consumer Protection Week

PALMDALE – The city of Palmdale’s neighborhood services department will host a two-part presentation series designed to arm the community with the knowledge and tools to safeguard against scams and thefts.

Presented as part of National Consumer Protection Week, both workshops are free and open to the public. They will be held in the Palmdale City Council Chamber, located at 38300 Sierra Highway, Suite B.

The first workshop, titled “Identity Theft and Scams, Schemes and Cons,” will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 2.

Participants will learn how identity theft occurs, how to minimize individual risk and what to do if one becomes a victim of identity theft. Additional information will cover the many different types of scams out there, how to identify them, and how to avoid them.

The second workshop, titled “Internet Scams and Online Safety,” will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 9.

It will discuss how crooks use computers to steal personal information and how to protect your computer.

“Scam artists around the world defraud millions of people each year,” stated Palmdale Crime Prevention Officer Kery German. “They use the phone, postal mail, and the internet to trick people into sending money or giving out personal information. I took a call from one of our residents who unfortunately lost $50,000 in a lottery scam! Many people say ‘I would never fall for that’ or ‘That would never happen to me’ but you’d be surprised at how convincing these scam artists are. These workshops will help give residents the information they need to protect themselves and their finances.”

For more information, call Palmdale’s crime prevention office at 661-267-5170.

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[Information via press release from the city of Palmdale.]