State Sen. Steve Rhoads' scam prevention seminar draws large crowd in Merrick

State Sen. Steve Rhoads and County Legislator Michael Giangregorio joined forces with the Nassau County Office of Crime Victim Advocate, Family & Children’s Association, and Nassau County Police Department on July 11 at the Merrick Library to host a Scam Prevention Seminar to help protect and educate our Long Island neighbors about current scam trends and insights.

To a packed-crowd, the presenters covered numerous topics including artificial intelligence, grandparent scams, romance scams, home improvement scams, phone scams, email scams, IRS scams, treasury scams, and telemarketing scams. This valuable seminar explained what scams you need to be aware of, how to identify a scam, how to report and recover form a scam, and how to prevent yourself from becoming the victim of identity theft.

Rhoads has been an advocate for seniors and residents who have fallen victim to crimes and scams. In response to the disastrous cashless bail laws, when Senator Rhoads was in the Nassau County Legislature, he created the Office of Crime Victim Advocate to provide a safe place for Long Islanders to contact whenever they are in a time of need and to ensure that victims of crime and witnesses to crime in Nassau County are afforded all the legal rights, protections, and assistance they are entitled to under the law.

In past few years, scams and identity theft have become more common across Long Island and even the entire Country. According to the FTC, consumers throughout the Country have lost nearly $8.8 billion due to scams and fraud in 2022, a 30 percent increase from 2021. Rhoads continues to be at the forefront of scam prevention and protecting hard-working residents—that’s why he hosted this Scam Prevention Seminar to give residents the tools necessary to prevent themselves from becoming a victim of scams and identity theft.

Rhoads has also led the charge in Albany to support law enforcement with the necessary tools to stay one-step ahead of these callous criminals and has been outspoken about repealing the cashless bail laws that have made our community less safe and emboldened scammers and criminals.

Given the positive feedback from this seminar, Rhoads plans to host more Scam Prevention Seminars in the near future to give more people the opportunity to protect themselves against scams and identity fraud. Everyone is encouraged to attend these upcoming seminars and learn about the vital information and resources available.

“In recent years, scams have been on a sharp rise, that’s why it was extremely important to host this seminar where residents can learn to protect themselves and help protect others during possible scams,” Rhoads said. “Educating yourself is the first action everyone should take when it comes to protecting themselves from becoming a victim. Scammers are only getting smarter, more emboldened, and more advanced so I encourage everyone to attend our upcoming Scam Prevention Seminars so the word can get around surrounding scams and identity theft. I was glad to see the great attendance we had at our first seminar and I hope to see more residents at future seminars.”

“We have been seeing an unprecedented uptick in scam complaints, and scammers are getting more brazen and creative in their attempts to gain personal details to steal your identity or your money,” Giangregorio said. “I am pleased to have teamed up with Senator Rhoads, Nassau County Office of Crime Victim Advocate, the Nassau County Police Department and Family and Children’s Association to host a seminar educating our residents of the red flags of scams and steps to take if you think you have been a victim of scam.”

For information on upcoming seminars, contact Rhoads’ District Office at (516) 882-0630 to get the details about coming seminars.

 –Jordan Vallone