No one is immune to the prevalence of scams, forgeries and counterfeiting that are occurring across the country, but the Carroll Police Department and the Carroll Chamber of Commerce want to help ensure that you know how to protect yourself. They will be offering a special program on retail fraud this month and discuss a variety of situations currently being seen. Sgt. Gary Bellinghausen will be hosting the seminar at the Carroll Rec Center at 4 p.m. on July 25.
One of the things they want retailers to be aware of, and to train their employees on, is how to spot the actions of customers that may be caught up in a scam.
The seminar will also discuss surveillance and other tools that can be used as protective measures. Sgt. Bellinghausen says they are actually seeing quite a bit of counterfeit money coming through our community.
Some of these fake bills look pretty authentic, but Bellinghausen will help attendees understand how to spot a size or slight texture difference as well as how to properly utilize the special pens designed to detect forgeries. He adds that about a month ago, authorities found money being printed in Fort Dodge, and the Carroll department worked with them to see if any of the bills had been found here. He says too that just because they didn’t find the actual bills here, it doesn’t mean they didn’t pass through and it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen again.
Sgt. Bellinhausen says they will also discuss community resources, such as the local Betterment association. He says the Betterment does a great job of getting notices out to area businesses, so they will encourage retailers to join, but they are also working on putting together a list of all businesses to be able to reach out with alerts. The July 25 seminar is free to attend, and again, Bellinghausen says, even though there is a focus on retail, everyone is encouraged to attend. For more information, contact the Carroll Chamber of Commerce or the Carroll Police Department at the numbers included below.
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Carroll Chamber of Commerce: 792-4383
Carroll Police Department: 792-3536
