Protecting Consumers and Communities from Fraud

Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 9:30 am

You’re invited to Consumer Action’s “Protecting Consumers and Communities from Fraud” in-person training.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reported that consumers lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, which represents a 25% increase over the previous year. The agency received a high number of fraud and identity theft reports from residents of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

As part of Consumer Action’s decades-long work educating consumers to better recognize and avoid fraud, we are offering in the Washington, D.C. region our “Protecting Consumers and Communities from Fraud” training. This free event will provide advocates, educators, case managers, counselors, faith-based and other direct service providers an opportunity to gather knowledge and resources to help protect their communities against ever-evolving scams and fraud.

The training will offer:

• A live introduction to the latest edition of Consumer Action’s “Just Say No to Scams” educational module, a free resource that includes a multilingual consumer guide and tip sheet along with tools for conducting community education;
• A session on preventing and recovering from identity theft, which often results from consumer fraud;
• A special guest presentation by Dr. Jennifer Lawrence, DSW, LICSW of FightCybercrime.org, focused on how community advocates can speak with consumers affected by severe cybercrime—such as romance or crypto fraud—while better understanding the shame, isolation and stigma experienced by fraud victims;
• Resources for staying informed about emerging scams; and
• Details on how nonprofit training participants will be able to apply for a small community education stipend.

If you are a community educator or advocate, you will not want to miss this in-person training, which will also offer an excellent networking opportunity.

Please share this invitation with your colleagues and community partners. 

CLICK HERE to register. (Confirmation/approval of registration will be sent 1-2 days following your completion of the registration form.)

Note: AFC professionals will be eligible to earn five AFCPE continuing education units.

Event check-in: 9:30 a.m.

Program: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (refreshments and lunch provided)

Location: Amazon Visitor Landing, 545 15th Street South, Arlington, VA, 22202

Transportation and parking: Nearby metro stops are Pentagon City and Crystal City. Public parking garage located at 1372 South Fern Street.

This event is made possible through a grant from Amazon.