Yesterday, Gus hosted his seminar on consumer fraud and identity theft.

The seminar was held at the CARES Rao Musunuru, M.D. Activity Center in Hudson and featured officials from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Postal Service.

Among the topics discussed included mail and cyber fraud, as well as identity theft crimes against the elderly and consumers.  Information was also provided about efforts to curb identity theft and consumer fraud in the community and what steps the public can take to better recognize and protect against these crimes.
 
In addition to the seminar, an on-site industrial shredder was available for the public to dispose of personal and sensitive documents free of charge.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Florida ranks third in the nation in the number of identity theft complaints filed. Of the 57,472 complaints of theft in Florida during 2008, 24,440 were related to identity theft.