FTC - 2.25-26.2009

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Day 1— February 25, 2009

Agenda

8:30 — 9:00 am Registration

9:00 — 9:15 am Opening Remarks: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman William Kovacic

9:15 — 10:45 am Panel 1: Becoming a Scam Artist, Understanding the Victim: Exploring the 

Psychology of Scammers and Victims

Moderator: Dan Salsburg, Assistant Director, Division of Marketing Pract

Panel

Panelists will explore the motivations of scam artists, including: how they get started and 

learn the tools of the trade; how and why they target particular victims; and techniques 

they use to entice potential customers. Panelists also will discuss the psychology of 

consumers, including how they become victims of these fraudulent actors, ways they can 

protect themselves, and ways to effectively educate them about fraud.

10:45 — 11:00 am Morning Break

11:00 am — 12:30 pm Panel 2: Quantifying Fraud and Under-Reported Fraud: Identifying the Fraud

that is not Reported and Exploring Ways to Reach Susceptible Consumers

Moderator: Tracy Thorleifson, Staff Attorney, Northwest Regional Off

Panel

Jim Vitale

Former telemarketer of fraudulent 

 business opportunity

Doug Shadel

State Directo

AARP Washington

Lynne M. Vieraitis, Ph.D.

Associate Professor 

Criminology Program,

University of Texas at Dalla

Keith Anderson 

Economist 

Bureau of Economics, FTC

David Szuchman

Directo

Division of Consumer Affair

New Jersey Attorney General’s Offic

Debra Deem

Victim Specialist

FBI, Los Angeles, C

Linda Fisher

Professor of Law

Seton Hall Law Schoo

Sally Greenberg

Executive Director

National Consumers Leag

Nora J. Carpenter

Senior Vice President

BBB Capacity for the Council of 

 Better Business Bureaus
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Day 1 (continued):

Panelists will provide relevant FTC fraud statistics and discuss types of fraud that 

consumers may be reporting at lower rates than other scams (e.g. charity fraud). Panelists 

also will discuss types of fraud directed at particular segments of the population, including 

minorities and the elderly. They will explore how these populations fall victim to particular 

scams and how various factors (including a lack of awareness or embarrassment that they 

have been scammed, or a lack of knowledge regarding where to complain) affect consumer 

reporting. Panelists also will discuss ways to reach targeted consumers in order to educate 

them about fraud prevention and reporting.

12:30 — 1:30 pm Lunch Brea

1:30 — 3:00 pm Panel 3: From Gateway to Gatekeeper: The Role of Private Industry Players in

Detecting and Preventing Frau

Moderator: Tracey Thomas, Staff Attorney, Division of Marketing Practi

PANELIS

Panelists will discuss how scam artists use tools or services from various private industries 

to perpetrate their fraud, and will identify these industries’ best practices to help in the 

prevention and early identification of fraud. Panelists also will discuss new initiatives 

and/or research they have instituted to better detect and prevent fraud.

3:00 — 3:15 pm Afternoon Break

3:15 — 4:15 pm Break-Out Sessions for Panels 1, 2, and 3 (all participants) 

Each group will have an informal discussion led by co-facilitators relating to issues raised 

during Panel 1, 2, or 3.

4:30 — 5:15 pm Break-Out Sessions report back to the full group

Moderator: Janis Kestenbaum, Staff Attorney, Division of Marketing Practi

Representatives selected from the breakout groups will discuss the main ideas and issues 

raised by their group, as well as recommendations for future action.

Jane Larimer 

General Counsel 

NACHA - The Electronic Payments

 Association

Clifford Stanford

Assistant Vice President & Director

Retail Payments Risk Forum 

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Jack Christin

Senior Regulatory Counsel 

Ebay

James Paravecchio

Group Manager

Fraud Risk Management Operations 

Verizon 

Tim Cranton

Associate General Counsel

Microsoft Corporation
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Day 2 — February 26, 2009

Day 2 of the Fraud Forum is open to domestic and international law enforcement only

8:30 — 9:00 am Registration

9:00 — 9:30 am Opening Remarks: Eileen Harrington, Acting Director, Bureau of Consumer

 Protection, FTC, and Andrea Rosen, Deputy Commissioner,

 Fair Business Practices, Competition Bureau Canada

9:30 — 10:45 am Panel 1: Scam Artists Concealed: Understanding How Scammers Hide

Moderator: Steve Baker, Director, Midwest Regional Off

PANELIS

This panel will examine the ways scam artists conceal their whereabouts, their identities, 

their financial resources, or even the existence of the fraud itself. Panelists will discuss the 

methods scam artists use to conceal their crime; how the type of fraud they perpetrate 

may influence these methods; how they work internationally to hide their illegal conduct; 

and how law enforcement can track and uncover fraudulent activity.

10:45 — 11:00 am Morning Break

11:00 am — 12:00 pm Panel 2: Stopping the Scam Artists-In-Training: Deterring Employee

and Affiliates

Moderator: Charles Harwood, Director, Northwest Regional Of

PANELIS

Michael J. McKeown 

Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) 

Cyber Initiative and Resource Fusion

 Unit (CIRFU), F

Joan MacPherson

Senior Competition Law Officer

Competition Bureau Canada

Cory Louie

Trust & Safety Manager

Google

Jay Lerner

Assistant Chief 

Fraud Section, Criminal Division

US Department of Justic

Paul Laudanski

Senior Manager

Safety Investigation

Microsoft Corporation

Richard Goldberg 

Trial Attorney 

Office of Consumer Litigatio

US Department of Justice

Debra Harris

Assistant Inspector in Charge of

 the Criminal Investigations Group

US Postal Inspection Servic

Catherine Alfonsi,

First Officer Financial & Property 

 Crime Unit 

Europol, The Hague, Netherland
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Day 2 (continued):

This panel will explore the challenges associated with preventing employees or affiliated 

third parties from restarting or continuing a fraudulent scheme that has been shut down. 

Panelists will explore, among other things, how better to track and deter these would-be 

scammers and what should be done if the fraud reappears.

12:00 — 1:00 pm Lunch Brea

1:00 — 2:15 pm Panel 3: Working Together: Examining Ways to Improve State, Federal,

International, and Civil/Criminal Cooperatio

Moderator: Kathleen Benway, Staff Attorney, Division of Marketing Practi

PANELIS

This panel will highlight projects where there has been effective state, federal, 

international, or civil/criminal cooperation. Panelists will address recent effective models 

of cooperation, and will explore what various law enforcement agencies can do to help 

lay the groundwork for future enforcement actions by other agencies. Panelists also will 

provide their perspectives on leveraging international cooperation.

2:15 — 2:30 pm Afternoon Break

2:30 — 3:30 pm Break-Out Sessions for Panels 1, 2, and 3 (all participants) 

Each group will have an informal discussion led by co-facilitators relating to issues raised 

during Panel 1, 2, or 3.

3:45 — 4:45 pm Break-Out Sessions report back to the full group

Moderator: Lois C. Greisman, Associate Director, Division of Marketing Pract

Representatives selected from the breakout groups will discuss the main ideas and issues 

raised by their group, as well as recommendations for future action.

4:45 — 5:00 pm Closing Remarks

Ellyn Lindsay 

Assistant US Attorney

Central District of Californi

Frank Gorman

Chief

Criminal Liaison Unit, FT

Erin Leahy

Assistant Attorney General

Ohio Attorney General’s Office

Jonathan Rusch

Deputy Chief for Strategy and Polic

Fraud Section, Criminal Division

US Department of Justice

Colin Woodcock 

Senior Manager

Serious Organised Crime Agency 

 (SOCA), UK