AAA East Central is partnering with BGPD for an Identity Theft Presentation
Bowling Green, KY.- Cybercrimes are the fastest-growing crimes in the country and as technology continues to advance, the problem may only get worse. Seniors, children, teens, and college students are at a higher risk of falling prey to identity theft scams.
Whether you shopping online, playing video games, or even connecting to unsecured wifi at a coffee shop, your cyber security may be at risk. Lynda Lambert, Safety Advisor and Media Spokesperson for Bowling Green’s AAA Branch says, “Anytime you get on the internet, you are opening yourself up to potential dangers from cyber criminals. In fact, when it comes to identity theft, one person is the victim of identity theft in this country every 22 seconds.”
The holiday season is right around the corner and cyber criminals see this time of year as the perfect opportunity to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers. There are protection plans available to monitor for fraud that may appear in your credit card reports, social media, and bank accounts.
There are also ways to be proactive with your cyber security. Lambert says, “You also want to be diligent in doing things like looking at your bank statements every few days, even daily if possible, checking your credit card statements, making sure there are no unauthorized charges, there are certain things you can do yourself, but having that identity monitoring service will ensure that you will be completely protected as much as possible.”
The list of scams is endless, and often times it can be hard to tell if an email or text message is actually a scammer trying to take advantage of you. “The scammer always tries to create this sense of urgency, that you have to take care of this problem right now. “We have to do it right now, don’t hang up the phone, we’ve got to get this taken care of right now.” And all they’re trying to do is create fear,” says Ronnie Ward, Public Information Officer for BGPD.
This Thursday, October 19th from 5-6 pm, the Bowling Green AAA Branch is partnering with BGPD to address common scams, talk about the dangers of cybercrimes, and teach people how to protect themselves. Officer Ward says, “It’s just a community effort, by a lot of people, to try to keep this from happening and try to keep them from becoming victims.”
The identity theft presentation will be at the AAA Branch office in Bowling Green. If you are interested and would like to attend, call (502) 565-7410.
