Hot Topic for Rotary Club: Beware of Scams!

It was a great night at Mar Belo Portuguese Restaurant for the monthly RCGLB dinner meeting.  The food was excellent as usual, and the turnout was very good.

Det. Debra Bassinder from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Financial Crimes & Public Corruption Unit, gave a very informative presentation on how to avoid being scammed by mail, internet, phone, and social media.  These are crimes that have increased exponentially in the past few years and have been supercharged with the advent of AI.

Four signs that it’s a scam are 1) Scammers pretend to be from an organization you know.  2)Scammers say there’s a problem or a prize.  3) Scammers pressure you to act immediately.  4) Scammers tell you to pay in a specific way.

On behalf of the RCGLB we would like to thank Det. Bassinder for her presentation and Det. TJ Manzo for putting us in touch with such a knowledgeable and engaging speaker.  Both of these individuals stepped up on short notice to serve their community with information to protect them from these crimes.

These kinds of interactions build positive relationships between the Prosecutor’s Office and the public.

REPORT SCAMS TO THE FTC – If you were scammed or think you saw a scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission ReportFraud.ftc.gov