Lesson Objective
Participants will learn how to spot common scams and fraud, including the warning signs of internet fraud, phishing, and other online scams.
Participants will learn how to spot common scams and fraud, including the warning signs of internet fraud, phishing, and other online scams.
Ready?
Begin Lesson
Going online to shop and interact with people can be fun, rewarding and the easiest way to get things done. Even though these online interactions and connections can be enjoyable and make life easier, it is important to be aware that not all connections and people are what or whom they seem. This lesson will help you learn to spot potentially fraudulent behavior.
Scams are fraudulent actions that can be used to cheat someone out of money or confidential information.
Scams can happen in a variety of ways, including through online dating apps, email, social media sites, phone calls, text messages and even traditional letters or other documents. In this section, you’ll learn about each of these common scam types. You’ll also learn helpful techniques for spotting a scam and what to do when you come across one online.
Common online scams
In this section, you’ll learn about each of these common scam types. You’ll also learn helpful techniques for spotting a scam and what to do when you come across one online.
Phishing is a type of scam that tricks people into sharing their login or personal information. Phishing can come in the form of emails, text messages, phone calls, and social media posts, to name a few. The messages or emails might look like they are from a real company that you know or trust, like a bank, online store, social networking site, parcel delivery firm or government department. Phishing perpetrated by text is commonly known as ‘smishing', and by a phone call as 'vishing'
Phishing messages might use the following strategies to entice people to click on a link, open an attachment or share login or personal information:
Catfishing is when a scammer creates a fake account or identity to trick people into believing they are talking to a real person.
Some signs that a message might be a phishing scam:
Some commonplace financial scams can include;
In many of these scams, someone claiming to be from a financial institution or government organization will contact you via phone, text, or email or leave you a message saying that you owe taxes or other money. They may say that if you don’t pay the outstanding balance immediately, legal action will be taken against you. The following is a list of some commonplace scams but new scams come up regularly so you should always practice caution.
Types of common financial scams;
Congrats!
You've finished the lesson
Students will learn how to keep their online information more secure by using and maintaining strong passwords.
View PageStudents will learn to recognize unsecured Wi-Fi when it is available to them, understand the trade-offs inherent in using unsecured Wi-Fi, and make informed decisions about when to connect to and use unsecured Wi-Fi.
View PageStudents will learn about malicious online users who might attempt to use security weaknesses to gather information about them.
View PageStudents will learn what information verification is and why it is important for news consumers.
View PageStudents will learn about a five-step checklist they can use to verify the origin, source, date, location, and motivation of news.
View PageStudents will learn how to keep their online information more secure by using and maintaining strong passwords.
View PageStudents will learn to recognize unsecured Wi-Fi when it is available to them, understand the trade-offs inherent in using unsecured Wi-Fi, and make informed decisions about when to connect to and use unsecured Wi-Fi.
View PageStudents will learn about malicious online users who might attempt to use security weaknesses to gather information about them.
View PageStudents will learn what information verification is and why it is important for news consumers.
View PageStudents will learn about a five-step checklist they can use to verify the origin, source, date, location, and motivation of news.
View Page