ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — The George P. Thames Senior Center in Robertsdale hosted a Community Education Program for Seniors on Wednesday, Aug. 23 at the PZK Hall.

Featured speaker for the morning-long seminar was Alabama Securities Commission Director Joseph Borg, speaking on the topic “How to Project Yourself from Financial Fraud.”

“A lot of people don’t know we exist, let alone what we do on a daily basis,” Borg said.

One of the main components of the Securities Commission, Borg said, is a prosecution team, which investigates and prosecutes crimes involving securities.

According to the investopedia.com, securities fraud encompasses a wide range of topics, from corporate and investment fraud, to banking, stock and insurance fraud.

“Essentially if you give somebody money hoping to get a return on your investment that is a security,” Borg said. “If that person does not intend to return your investment or if the product you think you are investing in doesn’t exist, that could be considered securities fraud.”

At the federal level, crimes involving securities are investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In Alabama, those crimes are investigated by the Alabama Securities Commission.

“If there are any securities crimes that involve residents of Alabama, we will get involved,” Borg said.

Many people are familiar with cases such as phone calls, saying you’ve won a prize and need to pay the taxes up front in order to claim the prize. Or saying they are with some type of local, state or federal law enforcement agency, saying that you need to pay a fine in order to avoid prosecution.

“No local, state or federal agency operates that way,” Borg said. “If you did owe a fine, they would send you a letter with the amount owed and give you an opportunity to pay them. They will not ask for your information over the phone.

“One of the most frustrating things is someone who will call and say, ‘I won the Canadian (or wherever) lottery. I sent them a check and I never got my money.’ My first question to them is, ‘Have you been to Canada lately? Have you ever played the Canadian lottery?’ If the answer is no, my next question is, “Why did you think you won the Canadian lottery if you didn’t buy a ticket?”

But when Borg asked what those in attendance thought brought the biggest cases of securities fraud to Alabama residents in the last few years, his answer surprised many in attendance.

“The best way to steal money in the state of Alabama is to go to church,” he said.

Some of the largest cases over the last few years have involved scammers targeting churches, either by offering investments for church building programs or simply by offering the congregation a large return on their investment.

“Oftentimes they will join the church,” Borg said. “Investors trust them because they are a member of the church and are like family. People simply don’t believe that someone who is like family would lie to them.”

In other cases, the scammer will go to the church pastor and ask the church pastor to solicit investors.

“A lot of the people we talked to during the course of investigations said the only reason they invested in a project is because the pastor asked them to,” he said.

Borg showed two examples of church-based securities fraud, one involving a church in Prattville, another involving a church in Tampa, Florida, which included investors from across the country, including some from Alabama.

“How does this affect you as senior citizens?” he said. “In many cases these investors are older and many of these scams target older residents. I believe that in a lot of cases, the generation of residents that served in and grew up around World War II are simply more trusting.

“Also, the older generation has simply been able to save more money. They have money to spend and they are looking to invest in their retirement. Why do they target older residents? Simply put, because that’s where the money is.”

Most cases of securities fraud can be avoided simply by doing a little homework and using common sense, Borg said.

“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” he said. In the two examples presented, both of the people involved in the scams had criminal histories that were easy to track.

“It all could have been avoided by a simple phone call.”

Also on hand for the seminar were U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, who gave residents a legislative update and Emily Marsal, legal services representative with the Area Agency on Aging, who provided attendees with an overview of services offered by the agency.

Vendors were also on hand providing information to residents, including the Alabama Securities Commission, Area Agency on Aging and the Baldwin County Counsel on Aging; Alabama SMP, Air MedCare (MedStar); the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission; AARP and Humana.

The seminar was followed by a free lunch, provided by HoneyBaked Ham.