Scam Awareness Event.

Last night, the Boro Park JCC in partnership with Shomrim and the JCRC held a safety awareness event focused on scams. The webinar took place over Zoom.

The speakers included:

• R. S. Richard Jr CISM

• Adam Berish

• David Pollock (Chair - Community Security Initiative)

• Motty Katz

• Avi Greenstein (CEO - Boro Park JCC)

Adam Berish, the Brooklyn Security Manager at the Community Security Initiative, began by describing various ways that scammers reach people including via phone. Common phone-based scams are via robocall, spoofed calls from companies, and fake prize winnings. Mr. Berish gave an example from his personal life when he got a fake call from Apple saying that his computer was broken. Suspecting that it was a scam, he let it go to voicemail. When he called Apple to see what happened, they told him that they do not do outreach via phone and confirmed his suspicion that it was a scam.

R. S. Richard Jr, a Cybersecurity Advisor at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, spoke about the different types of malware and ransomware attacks that are possible. Mr. Richard recommended that people never put pieces of hardware of unknown origin into their computer including flash drives and CDs. He also recommended that people always have the most up to date anti-virus software on their computer.

Motty Katz, the coordinator of Boro Park Shomrim, spoke about the importance of digital security but also spoke about specific security measures that people should take when they go away in the summer. He said that people should arrange for a neighbor to pick up their mail and for their lights to be on timers as two of the main signs that robbers look for are closed lights and an abundance of mail outside.

Councilman Kalman Yeger generously sponsored the event and thanked all of the organizers from the BPJCC and JCRC.

The event last evening was just the first of what will be a series of events sponsored by Councilman Yeger and organized by the BPJCC.