Operation Scam Jam, Financial Education & Shred Events Highlight 2016 Money Smart Week

AARP West Virginia is partnering with more than 30 organizations, including the Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Trade Commission, and FINRA Investor Education Foundation to promote financial wellness during 2016 West Virginia MoneySmart Week ^® , April 23 – 30.

West Virginia M

oney Smart Week ^® (MSW) is part of a multi-state public awareness campaign of the Federal Reserve Bank that stresses the importance of financial literacy, informs consumers where they can get help, and provides free educational seminars and activities in multiple locations during a selected week each year.

The highlight event for this year’s statewide MSW observance will be a Eastern Panhandle “Operation Scam Jam” Consumer University, Wednesday, April 27, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Martinsburg, 301 Foxcroft Ave., Martinsburg. This financial education event will feature state, regional and national presenters including experts from AARP, AARP Foundation, the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Attorney’s Office – Northern District of West Virginia, and more. The event is open to the public; however registration for this free luncheon event is limited. To register, or for more information, call 877-926-8300.

Other featured West Virginia MSW events will include: the West Virginia Bankers Association’s “Women In Banking” conference at the Charleston Marriott; AARP “Movies For Grownups” screening of ‘The Big Short” in Charleston, a Military Veterans’ financial education workshop in Mason County, hosted by the West Virginia Veterans of Foreign Wars; “Safe Banking for Seniors” events, hosted by the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services and banking partners in Elkins, Morgantown and Pt. Pleasant; a series of financial education and fraud prevention workshops, hosted by MSW partners; and, AARP West Virginia’s “Fight Fraud, Shred Instead” free recycling event in the Kanawha Valley , 9:00 a.m. to Noon, Saturday, April 23 at Cabela’s, 200 Cross Terrace Blvd., Southridge Center, Charleston.

West Virginia MSW partners include: AARP, AARP Foundation, AARP Fraud Watch Network, Bluegrass E-Cycle, Charleston Newspapers, Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Mid-Ohio Valley, Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Trade Commission, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Goodwill Industries, KnightHorst Shredding, State Senator Chris Walters, U.S. Attorney’s Office – Northern District of WV, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, WV Attorney General’s Office, WV State Auditor’s Office, WV Bankers Association, WV Department of Education, WV Financial Exploitation Task Force, WV Library Commission, WV Public Broadcasting, WV Secretary of State’s Office, WV State Treasurer’s Office, and WV Veterans Of Foreign Wars. For more information on West Virginia MSW activities, visit www.facebook.com/WVMSW or www.moneysmartweek.org.