Thousand Oaks on Wednesday hosted its first Senior Congress, an event billed as an information forum for older folks, and it did not disappoint.

Representatives of various agencies specializing in elder matters talked about the services they provide, and a few offered advice on how seniors could avoid being ripped off and where they could turn for help.

But before the first speaker even stepped to the microphone in the Preus-Brandt Forum at California Lutheran University, June Glasmeier, chairwoman of the event, got a laugh from the crowd with her timely weather observation, "First of all, I'd like to thank God for the sunshine."

Early in the program, Robyn James, director of the California Department of Corporations' Seniors Against Investment Fraud program, and Joan Virginia Allen, founder and coordinator of Ventura County Financial Abuse Specialist Team, delivered words of advice on how to avoid scams.

Each told listeners that if they missed some of the tips or wanted additional information, they could get it from brochures available in the lobby.

James pointed out that while it sounds like the Department of Corporations might license corporations, it doesn't. That's done by the secretary of state's office, she said. The Department of Corporations actually licenses and regulates investment advisers, some financial planners and others who help people make decisions about their money.

However, there are a lot of crooks out there, James said.

"Today, my department is in the fourth year of an undercover sweep of boiler rooms," she said. "You know what boiler rooms are: illegal telemarketers who usually call around dinnertime. Today, a boiler room could be one person in a vehicle with a cellular phone."

Scam artists especially home in on people over 50 because "you are the wealthy generation," she said.

Need help with a living trust sales agent?

"Call SAIF first," James said. "Our toll-free number (1-866-275-2677) is different because calls are answered by real, live people (a smattering of applause from the audience). We have nine staff members taking calls. Talk to us. We will do the checking for you before you agree to anything. Over three years we've trained 3,000 volunteers to help with this, so we can do the work for you."

Allen's Financial Abuse Specialist Team is a partnership of public and private professionals who volunteer their time to help elder and dependent adult victims of financial abuse.

Ventura County FAST is a program of Senior Concerns in Thousand Oaks. Allen, an attorney, started the program in Orange County and, in addition to running the local team, coordinates the newly formed Santa Barbara County FAST.

At the Senior Congress, she also talked about scams, living-trust mills and other assorted schemes designed to steal money from seniors.

Her presentation emphasized that not everyone needs a living will, that probate is not always bad, and that it is critical to know with whom you are dealing. Help on these and other issues is available by calling FAST at 497-0189.

Other speakers included Kathy Cilley Wagner of Adult Protective Services; Sylvia Taylor-Stein of Long-Term Care Ombudsman; Catherine Duggan of the Ventura County District Attorney's Office's Victim Assistance Program; Andrea Koval of Goebel Senior Center in Thousand Oaks; attorney Deborah Sutherland of Grey Law of Ventura County; Mitchell F. Disney, senior deputy district attorney in the office's Consumer Protection Unit; and Margaret Fieweger, associate vice president of undergraduate studies at California State University, Northridge.

The Senior Congress was presented by the Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation. Steve Wiley, foundation chairman, delivered the welcoming remarks.