s/o scam smarts

[SKL]

Does anyone know of a resource that provides awareness about the latest / greatest scams, for teens and other plain folks?

I'm picturing a weekly newsletter that just gives a quick summary of things to watch out for.

If it doesn't exist, we should probably invent one!

Edited June 18 by SKL

[DawnM]

Yeah, I think it is impossible to keep up.

I got a booking.com reservation and they asked me to pay directly and I had  already paid for another hotel doing that, without an issue, so I didn't think anything of it, got scammed for $1200.   I have the money back, although it is a bit of a mess right now so I hope we are done, but horrible!

I also got scammed when a person hacked a friend's FB account and was "selling" things due to a move.   The friend had said when her husband retired they were thinking of moving so I didn't think anything of it.   Again, scammed.   Although that one was on me, I should have contacted my friend through the phone first, not FB messenger.   

The thing is, up to this point, I considered myself pretty savvy scam wise.....but they keep coming up with new methods and as soon as people catch on, they start a new one.   

I now trust no one.   

[regentrude]

I don't think you can keep up with the scams. It would be more effective to have a few general rules. Like:

1. If anyone reaches out to you asking for payment or personal info, never respond to the query. Instead, contact the entity directly through their website/email/phone.

2. Check the address of any link. Best on a computer and not the phone.

3. There's no urgency. Resist any attempt to hurry you.

We got an email telling us our web domain couldn't be renewed because payment didn't go through. We didn't panic and click on the link, but waited until we were on a computer and could inspect the email carefully. The sender address wasn't from our provider, and the url wasn't either. 

[SKL]

Scammy things have been coming to me that seem targeted at my kids.  Maybe they got a list of 2024 graduates or something, but we've usually provided my cell phone # and email address for all their stuff, so it comes to me (or some of it does).  One was a text asking if I wanted a job, and if so, bla bla bla.  One was a mailer asking my kid to call a number to accept some financial goody.  I don't know how many such things my kids are receiving directly.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au
 

this is an Australian government run thing. I’m not sure how up to date it is, but there’s a newsletter you can sign up for and the general advice is relevant. The general principal of never ring a phone number or reply to an email if you aren’t sure - get the number from the original website is good. It helped our older people in our life recently.

[Zoo Keeper]

Nothing can be up to the minute accurate, but I've found the BBB to be helpful.... https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker

Being able to point to the BBB, an older, known entity, was especially helpful for the elderly person in my life who keeps getting scammed. 

Edited June 18 by Zoo Keeper

[kirstenhill]

While this isn't the latest/greatest, I do think having people watch the Mark Rober video where he shows what happens at a scam call center could be very enlightening.   While it does always change, I think having well-done videos that expose different types of scams and educate people about them would be great.  The scammers are always going to be inventing new tricks, but they keep repeating the old ones too, and it will cut down on people falling for it.

[73349]

Some things to watch for/common scam attempts are explained at...

https://consumer.ftc.gov/scams

https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes