Fraud Prevention Training

Washington State has combined several of its agencies under an umbrella called Consumer Protection Washington to protect consumers and offer them education and assistance in all aspects of fraud prevention. On January 28^th, 2020 we were fortunate to have representatives from the following offices/agencies who are involve with #ConsumerProtectionWashington come to The HUB and tell what they do to educate and protect consumers from fraud:

• Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
• Washington Secretary of State
• Washington State Office of the Attorney General
• Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission
• Office of the Insurance Commissioner
• Treasurer of State of Washington

We heard ways to look out for fraud and how we could protect ourselves from being victims of fraud. Here, in brief is what we were told: Scammers are looking for ways to scam you and they even train other scammers how to scam you. Always ask questions. Never let yourself be pressured into signing something. If you need more time to get more information, take it. You can contact the state’s agencies that look after the particular type of transaction you are concerned about and check out a company or contractor to see if there are details about them that would help you make an informed decision. The information presented was so concentrated that I ended up with 4 pages of notes, so I will be writing individual blog posts about each of these agencies, their mission, and what they discussed so that I can present the information better. If you have questions or concerns about what you should do to protect yourself, or what to do if you have become a victim of fraud, please contact the individual agencies for more details. Be sure to visit the Consumer Protection Washington FaceBook page too!   We would like to thank Kitsap Bank for attending and providing yummy sandwiches and chips for our lunch. They have been a huge supporter of The HUB over the years and we are grateful for their participation!