In this interactive session, national experts from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation will provide you with information about how to keep yourself and your family safe from criminal predators.

Identity thieves, scammers, and cyber criminals target older adults and are often successful because we, as a community, are not well-informed about their tactics. We will teach you how to spot red flags that indicate the person you are dealing with is a predator. We will provide prevention tips as well as ideas for what to do if you become a victim.

We will explore current trends in this arena and help you better understand the nature of these criminals. We encourage you to bring your questions—please come prepared with any concerns you have about these criminal enterprises.

Everyone should feel safe using the Internet, social media, and smartphones! After this session, you will have the tools to navigate these platforms with safety and confidence.

Bio: Hazel Heckers

Hazel’s graduate degree is in Jungian Psychology. After working as a therapist in hospice for a number of years, she discovered victim assistance. She has been a victim advocate since the late 1980s, when the victim assistance movement was just beginning, and is honored to have participated in making it a respected profession.

As a victim advocate, Hazel became known as a respected expert in crimes against the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as working with the family members and loved ones of homicide victims. She has been a pioneer in the field, facilitating the first Law Enforcement Protocol for response to caregiver abuse, starting Colorado’s first Kinship Care Support Program, and establishing support groups and counseling programs for families and loved ones of homicide victims and missing persons.

She also brought Safety School to Colorado grade schools and established cross-training programs for Law Enforcement and Human Services responding to elder abuse. Hazel participated in writing and advocating for Colorado’s At-Risk-Adults legislation, defining abuse against older adults and people with disabilities. She was one of the founding members of the Colorado Coalition for Elder Rights and Abuse Prevention.

Hazel is currently the Victim Assistance Coordinator with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), where she provides direct services and support to crime victims and coordinates community education and professional training across the state and nationally.

She helped establish the first 24-Hour ID Theft and Fraud Hotline in the nation and was at the forefront of raising awareness about Medical ID Theft, Child ID Theft, Family Violence and ID Theft, and Disaster Response-Related ID Theft and Fraud. She is considered a national expert in ID Theft and Fraud and is listed as a Subject Matter Expert with the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime. She also served on the board that founded the National Identity Theft Victim Assistance Network.

As the Victim Advocate with CBI, Hazel has worked extensively with the family members and loved ones of missing persons and cold case homicide victims and has established support groups for these co-victims.

Hazel is the 2014 recipient of the U.S. Department of Justice National Crime Victim Service Award.

Website:

Colorado Bureau of Investigation