We who live in the Information Age have incredible wonders and resources available at our fingertips. The downside is that the less-than-honest among us have new tools at their disposal too. Frauds are as old as time, but the Internet has unfortunately been a boon to their spread. It is important to be ever-vigilant in evaluating e-mails, Facebook posts, instant messages, etc., even if they seem to be coming from friends and family, etc. For example, I received an e-mail that appeared to be from a friend explaining that she was in a car accident while vacationing in Madrid and desperately needed a loan to settle foreign hospital bills. I was pretty sure my friend had been nowhere near Madrid and I spoke to her to confirm this.

There are some government resources online to help with spotting this kind of scam and how to combat any damage that might be done by them. Here are a few:

• USA.gov: Reporting and Learning About Internet Fraud
• FBI: Common Fraud Schemes
• Federal Trade Commission: 10 Ways to Avoid Fraud
• San Jose Police Department: Reporting Forgery, Fraud, and Identity Theft

Meriwest Credit Union offers a series of free personal finance workshops for San José Public Library customers througout the month of June.  Learn more about credit issues, identity theft, and financing a small business.

Workshops will be offered in the following topics:

• Credit Myths and Repair workshops,  will focus on basic issues surrounding managing credit and accessing your credit reports, for free.
• Identity Theft workshops, will provide you with tips on how to stay safe when using your debit and credit cards, managing sensitive documents, and how to avoid being a target of internet hackers.
• Access to Capital for Small Businesses, explains what financial institutions are looking for when underwriting small business loans and what entrepreneurs can do to improve their chances of approval of their loan request.

All workshops are FREE and open to the public.  No registration required.

Here is the schedule of workshops for June 2011:

What can you do to protect yourself from identity theft and other scams targeting Senior Adults? Janet Berry from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office will be speaking at the Almaden Community Center on May 23 to offer valuable advice regarding safeguards you can take to prevent becoming a victim of elder fraud. Find out about identity theft, telemarketing, email and lottery scams,  investment and annuity scams, and social security fraud.  Learn more about mortgages, reverse mortgages, foreclosures and  power of attorney documents. This free program will be held on Monday, May 23 from 9:45-11:00 am in the Almaden Community Room. Additional information on these topics can be found in many library resources including  Frauds Gone Wild!  Protecting Yourself from Elder Fraud, Stopping Identity Theft: 10 Easy Steps to Security, and Get it Together: Organize Your Records so Your Family Won't Have To.